Director: Spike Jonze
Talent: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde, Rooney Mara
Release Date: 14th February
In the near future, a sensitive soul (Joaquin Phoenix) makes his living writing romantic letters for other people. In his own life he’s plagued by loneliness following the breakdown of his marriage. That all changes when he installs a new computer program (Scarlett Johansson) designed to interact on a human level and imbued with its own, evolving intuition.
Joaquin Phoenix’s performance brings the sort of transcendence and emotional intensity that has characterised the latest period of his career. His human, fragile, touching portrayal is both believable and moving. Johansson’s disembodiment is by no means a hindrance, and while her drawl may not appeal to everyone, it’s obvious why it works on the lovesick protagonist.
The setting is built up in small details, artfully, like a collage. The result may look like an Ikea-meets-American Apparel utopia but it’s a clever one, non-intrusive but winsome, and all captured beautifully by Hoytema’s lo-fi but high intensity camera work. A near perfect synergy of futurism and the timeless confusion of love. – Eoghain Meakin
