DIRECTOR Spike Jonze has produced another stylish piece to sit alongside his earlier acclaimed successes Being John Malkovich and Adaptation – and earned a best picture Oscar nomination for his efforts.

His film centres on a fine performance from Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a gentle soul quietly rebounding from his marriage break-up, whose job is writing personal letters for others. And he’s good at it, finding the perfect words for strangers that he perhaps could not when his own marriage began to flounder.

Set in the near future in Los Angeles, Theodore lives a comfortable, but unrewarding life and so decides to try out a new computer operating system through which he talks – via an earpiece – to Samantha (voiced beautifully by Scarlett Johansson) and the two get on famously. They become an item and he grows increasingly dependent on her. But where will it lead?

Jonze’s sci-fi romance is fascinating viewing and Phoenix adds another memorable portrayal to a CV that is highlighted by his Oscar-nominated work in Gladiator, Walk the Line and The Master.

Another triumph from the talented Mr Jonze.

4/5 stars

Bruce Hawksbee