I’ve been reflecting for several days as to why I found HER so singularly unsatisfying, and frankly dull, and I think I’ve pinpointed the issues.

The first and obvious one is that this felt like an interesting question that had been asked and answered years ago by the science fiction community and for readers and writers in the field this really was  old hat.  When I attended the AI conference a number of years ago the issues of user bonding with their AI helpers was already under discussion.  There was an entire talk devoted to the issues of robot health care helpers that are being tested in Japan.  What happens when an elderly person can no longer afford their helper and the robot is taken away?  What kind of psychological damage will be done to the human user?

For me the film felt very predictable and not in a good way of promises kept.  It was clear who nerdy guy was going to end up with at the end from the first moment she set foot on screen.

I found the characters to be narcissistic, whiny and boring.  This was such a first world problem that I became more and more impatient as the film dragged on.

What did I like.  I thought the performances were pretty good in that they portrayed self-absorbed people really well.   I really liked the echoing issues presented by Theodore’s real job.  It was the one place where the script really shone for me.  Theodore writes touching, personal letters for other people who are too busy or insecure about writing their own love letters, thank you letters, condolences, etc.  In a sense Theodore was no different then Samantha — he echoes human contact without ever actually connecting with another human being.   He’s an interface, an operating system too and a counterfeit of emotion.

I didn’t care for the direction.  Endless boring montage scenes of Theodore taking his OS to the beach or cafes or coffee shops, etc.  And when we weren’t montaging all the visuals felt very static.

I usually like talky, cerebral films, but this one left me absolutely cold.