One day after the debut of the trailer to Spike Jonze’s eagerly expected film Her, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as sad sack writer who develops a relationship with his new Siri-like operating system, comes word that the film will has been chosen to close the 51st New York Film Festival. Her also stars Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Scarlett Johansson’s voice. We previously reported that Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips will open the venerable film festival which runs from September 28th-October 13th. The film also joins the other big ticket number at this years NYFF– Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which was previously announced as the centerpiece gala of the festival.
In a statement released by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jonze commented, “I’m very excited that it’s a premiere in the city. The New York Film Festival is where we premiered our first movie and that’s really special. It was our first U.S. premiere of ‘Being John Malkovich’ and we had all our friends there and it feels so nice to come back to NYFF.” Her marks Jonze’s first film since 2009’s Where the Wild Things Are and the first to feature a script fully written by him.
NYFF Director of Programming and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones commented, “Like many people I’ve come to expect great and surprising things from Spike Jonze, but Her is something altogether new in cinema, To discuss even a little bit of the plot—let’s just say that it’s about lonely people and artificial intelligence—is to deprive first-time viewers of the opportunity of discovering it themselves. The tone is magical, the freedom of the narrative is breathtaking, Joaquin Phoenix continues to be one of the most adventurous actors in movies, Rooney Mara and Amy Adams are unforgettable, Scarlett Johansson’s voice will break your heart, and so will this impossibly delicate, funny, daring movie.” Jonze and distributor Warner Bros. and producing guru Megan Ellison hope that the NYFF launch of Her will begin an eventual awards campaign. Last years closer of the NYFF was Flight which earned Denzel Washington a Best Actor Oscar nomination.
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