Her is one of those movies that I don’t know if I would have went to go see if it weren’t up for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. When someone described it to me as “Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with Siri,” I think my reaction was “Ohhhhhhkaaaaaayyyy…” Was this going to be another strange Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary like I’m Still Here?

Part of me wanted this to be real.

After seeing Her, I don’t think it will take home Best Picture, but I’m glad it was nominated, because it is an excellent movie. It might be the most original romantic comedy I’ve seen since High Fidelity (though I’m not sure how original that was since it based on Nick Hornby’s book of the same name). I can completely see Her winning Best Original Screenplay. Spike Jonze’s script is excellent. He takes a high concept idea, “Man falls in love with iPhone,” and crafts poetry out of it. He pulls off the magic of making this relationship eventually feel both normal and believable. In someone else’s hands, I feel like Her would have had the same tone as an episode of The Big Bang Theory.

My only quibble with Her is I wish Spike Jonze went with an unknown actress for the voice of Samantha. I thought Scarlett Johannson did an excellent job in the role, but I couldn’t help but picture Scarlett Johannson throughout the entire movie. Her voice is just too distinctive.

I was a little scared as I left theater after watching Her. Because it suddenly hit me. This movie is the prequel to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Uh-oh.

The Her poster Skynet doesn’t want you to see.