Gravity had one heck of a trailer. Watching that moment of, "Holy crap, my chubby-gloved fingers had better grip this small piece of metal or else I will drift into space and slowly suffocate in utter emptiness", is pretty amazing. That is the visualization of a small scale goal with the ultimate of consequences; high drama! So what do you do next?
Well, more of the same, plus back story, plus some questionable science and a little Clooney charm to hold it all together. I think Sandra Bullock was good but not great in a tough role. Sometimes she needed to be the "everyman" (everywoman?) and get out of the way so we could picture ourselves in space and freak out on her behalf. Other times, she needed to focus on her journey and be damn good at it because we had nothing else to fall back on. I think in service of goal number one, her character ended up being slightly too much of a blank slate and lacked a bit of personality. As for goal number two, I enjoyed the journey of woman lost in life, as well as in space, despite its sometimes almost hokey symbolism of her rebirth. Clooney was almost too charming, but what else is new? A totally sold film but surely its not the best of the year?
Her was a quirky, good time. (I like to say that because Spike Jonze hates that word!) I thought it was far funnier than the other nine people in the theatre that day. (There is a scene of sexy-talk over a black screen that I am very hopeful it is the official Oscar clip!) I found it pretty absurdly amusing the way Joaquin Phoenix carries on with his phone, but maybe I was supposed to see this as sweet, instead? No matter, I found sweetenss in the final resolution of the film, the idea that we write ourselves into the programming of the people with whom we interact and share love. And I can't stop telling people about the awesome Mom-based video game that Amy Adams' character is designing. How boring is the future going to be, anyway? All in all, Her was a satisfying amusement but not a Best Picture.
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