This fucker really twisted me around. On one hand there is some brilliant writing in this movie when it comes to relationships and how we interact with each other on a number of levels. On the other hand it's a man in love with a computer.
Set sometime in the future, probably not too to distant, Phoenix plays a lonely divorcee. A company develops on OS that personalizes itself to each individual user, and away we go. I guess it doesn't hurt that the OS has Scarlett Johanssons sweet voice.
My main problem with the film is that everything is told in a vacuum, which I suppose it has to be, because the more we were to understand about the science involved, the more complex and harder to hold together the story becomes. We never see how the rest of the world handles the OS, which clearly grows as the film goes on. For a world set so firmly in the digital, you'd think everyone would be fully aware of what's happening with the machines and what the end game was going to be long before the films final minutes. At two hours, the film does try and give us enough time to become entrenched in the world it's created and get past the initial feelings of how silly it seems for a man to have a relationship with a piece of software. Yes, I know a lot of stuff in the film can be seen as allegory, I get that. On the other hand, you really have to go all in on the premise for it to hit you very deep on a level that goes more than skin deep.
There's indy music, and indy imagery, and it's moving. I just kept feeling like I wanted something deeper than I was being given, but whatever. Phoenix is really strong, and like I said, there's some really strong writing and I appreciate the effort made here by everyone involved, it was just a little too hard to get everything to coherently sink in on the emotional level the film aims for. Still, I cried like a girl at the end, so there's that.
I think there's a really great story here, but I don't think it's a really great movie. I'd still recommend it though.
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