Kind of the definition of a high concept movie.
I've liked Spike Jonze. And this one started off well, but it drags. It drags a lot. There are loads of situations to be explored with this concept, but it seems like we jump straight into material that would have normally been reserved for later (like how he goes about having sex with the AI) and instead spend about half of the movie in "how do you feel" discussions. Having those talks in a romantic drama on maybe two occasions during a movie is okay. Having it the centerpiece just hurts.
I know I'm making it sound like it's terrible. It's not. In fact, there's a whimsical air to most of the first half, which is engaging and provocative. As the story goes further along, their relationship seems to have lost all of the charm it had. Maybe this is intentional. Maybe it isn't. Regardless, I found it hard to focus on the second half.
The world-building was kind of nice though. It reminded me of Gattaca, in a strange way. This plays out as a hipster universe. Nearly every guy in the movie has a thin build, and wears tight pants. The lead is well played, but I found myself feeling like I couldn't quite identify with him - which is strange, because I felt closer to him from the trailer. There seems to be no crime. The city is well lit, a generally carefree environment.
The weird thing is how this world-building also seems to have worked against the story. No one seems to be surprised that this guy loves his OS's AI. It's established that this seems to be happening a lot, I still would expect some people to pass judgment.
It's an interesting curiosity, but it seemed to miss out on the promise of the premise.
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