Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a professional letter writer and soon to be divorced from the love of his life. Despite a gift for crafting emotional letters Theodore comes across as socially aloof, awkward, even strange. He leans upon a close friend, Amy, and her husband for support. Still lonely he purchases a self-aware Operating System (OS), Samantha. As the plot unfolds the relationship of Theodore and Samantha blossoms as Amy's marriage collapses. Theodore and Amy commiserate about love lost and Theodore begins to have doubts as to the practicality of a relationship with a computer. At the urging of Amy he is able to look past this and accept happiness. In an inevitable twist of fate Samantha branches out, forms new relationships and leaves Theodore. The movie ends with Theodore and Amy gazing out upon the Los Angeles skyline.
Living and working alone I can honestly say I spend about ninety percent of my waking time alone. It was easy for me to relate to Theodore and his need to connect with someone. The many scenes of Theodore alone in his apartment were all too familiar. I think this is why every review I read cautioned the heart broken and lonely: you might want to throw yourself under a bus afterwards. Well, maybe a bit exaggerated but you'll certainly leave no less depressed than you came.
Leaving the theater there were a lot of questions that immediately came to my mind, some more important than others: What's with the OS Freudian mother question when creating the profile? Why is Samantha so intrusive, reading all of Theodore's emails and files? How about Theodore and Amy? What the hell happened to denim and why are high water pants fashionable? Where did Samantha go?
It is an easy movie to over analyze and there are plenty of thought provoking quotes to scrutinize. Is technology making love easier to find or harder? Does technology lead to intimate connections or further distance us from our immediate relationships? And then there are the questions raised as to the nature of love itself. Wow, I don't want to go there so just see the movie yourself. Sure this movie drags, the subject matter is generally a bummer and the ending will probably leave you slightly less than satisfied but we could say the same for love right?
