One problem, of course, with falling in love with a computer is that sex is impossible. However, the computer, being very clever, has thought of that and assigns a woman - a real living female - as a surrogate to do sex with Theodore. Theodore tries, but his heart is not in it and he gives up (the sex, that is). Things happen. There are ups and downs, and misunderstandings, as there must be in any good romance. At one point the computer admits that it is stringing along over 8000 people in the same way that it is engaging Theodore, (although it does not mention whether they are all being assigned the same surrogate). He is understandably upset but he does have a shoulder to cry on, the understanding Amy, played by Amy Adams, a friend who has her own emotional difficulties.
All this takes place in a very stylised futuristic world. The cinematography and mise en scène are stunningly beautiful with an attenuate palet of reduced contrast and pastel shades, with some lovely images. The people in this film are mild, well-intentioned, and nice. With the pastel shades it is as though they are adult children inhabiting a nursery. The un-nurserylike characteristic of the interiors is that they are all immaculate, tidy, and clean. This is the opposite of grunge. I was amused to see that in an attempt to make the computers look different in a futuristic way, computer displays are actually thicker than those I would see in any contemporary computer shop. To hear the voice of the computer Theodore wears a small plastic earpiece, a bit like a hearing aid, in one ear. He never had to say "Hold on, You're breaking up, I'll go over by the window." and he never complained about the signal. A perfect world. The protracted conversations about emotional difficulties made me think, briefly, of Woody Allen. The sanitised world reminded me of Peter Weir's The Truman Show.
My difficulty with this film is that it is very insubstantial and I thought that it has no point. Joaquin Phoenix is an actor for whom I would go to see a film, and in this film is, as ever, very good. He, together with the mise en scène and cinematography are this film's strongest features. It is just that I'm not sure that these strengths justify the two hours it takes to see the film. At one point I realised that I had looked at my watch four times, and at the end of the film I was cuddling my watch in my hand and was pleased to leave the cinema. We live in a world with many political and other difficulties and I do not understand why anyone should want to make a film about nothing.
