"Her" is a brilliant, prescient and unsettling romantic comedy by director Spike Jonze (born Adam Spiegel; director, "Adaptation," 2002; "Being John Malkovich," 1999).

The "Her" of the film's title is an OS1 (as in "Operating System," the recorded voice within a phone, mobile device or computer).

"Her" takes place in Los Angeles of the not-too-distant future where Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) works as a Cyber Cyrano, composing hand-written love letters for folks at a loss for words to express their feelings to their significant others.

Theodore downloads the OS1 app and quickly becomes enthralled with the voice on the other end of the earbud named Samantha (We can't blame him. The voice is portrayed by Scarlett Johansson).

The subplot has to do with Amy (Amy Adams, at first unrecognizable as a modest, unpresupposing young woman and as remarkable an actor as ever) and her flesh and blood boyfriend.

Jonze scrupulously uses flashbacks to recount Theodore's relationship with Catherine (Rooney Mara), with whom he's going through a divorce.

Phoenix is remarkable as Theodore, shaping a relaxed upbeat happiness that masks his character's deep-seated loneliness.

The soundtrack is lovely. "The Moon Song," co-written by Spke Jonze and Karen O (Karen Lee Orzolek), and sung by Johansson and Phoenix during the film, is nominated for an original song Oscar.

"Her" is also nominated for Oscars for picture, original screenplay (Jonze), original score, and production design. "Her" received a screenplay Golden Globe.

"Her" is hypnotic in its dialogue lure (Johannson's voice and Jonze's often poetic observations) and mesmerizing in his rhythmic editing.

Samantha is Tinker Bell with Theodore as Peter Pan. He'd follow her anywhere even though she's emotionally unavailable, not unlike Hal 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968).

Go see, "Her." Then, we'll talk. Or maybe you'd rather talk to your hand, with your phone in it.

"Her," MPAA Rated R (Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.) for language, sexual content and brief graphic nudity; Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi; Run time: 2 hrs., 6 min.; Distributed by Warner Bros.

Credit Readers Anonymous: Scenes for "Her" were filmed on location in Shanghai, representing a futuristic Los Angeles.

Box Office, Feb. 7: Movie-goers went to Legoland during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics opening weekend, with the animated movie about plastic building blocks opening at No. 1 with an impressive $69.1 million, keeping the live-action, fact-based "The Monuments Men" opening at No .2, with $22.7 million, and passing "Ride Along," which parked at No. 3 after three weeks at No. 1, with $9.3 million, $105.1 million, four weeks;

4. "Frozen" (two Oscar nominations: animated film, song: "Let It Go"), $6.9 million, $368.6 million, 12 weeks; 5. "That Awkward Moment," $5.5 million, $16.8 million, two weeks; 6. "Lone Survivor," $5.2 million, $112.5 million, seven weeks; 7. "Vampire Academy," $4.1 million, opening; 8. "The Nut Job," $3.8 million, $50. million, four weeks; 9. "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," $3.6 million, $44.4 million, four weeks; 10. "Labor Day," $3.2 million, opening, $10.1 million, two weeks

Unreel, Feb. 14:

"About Last Night": The 1986 romantic comedy that starred Rob Lowe and Demi Moore gets a makeover with an African-American cast, including Kevin Hart, Joy Bryan, Regina Hall and Bryan Callen.

"RoboCop," PG: The 'bot reboot of the 1987 original and 1990 sequel stars Joel Kinnaman as the man in the gray-black titanium suit. Abbie Cornish and Gary Oldman also star in the sci-fi thriller set in 2028 Detroit.

"Winter's Tale," PG-13: Death, reincarnation and a cat burglar. This is not your classic Shakespeare play. This movie's based on a 1983 novel by Mark Helprin. Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe and Will Smith star in the fantasy drama.

"Endless Love," OK, all together now: Sing the title song from the 1981 weeper starring Brooke Shields and (10 points if you guess it) Martin Hewiit and you may forget this romantic drama starring Gabriella Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Bruce Greenwood and Robert Patrick.

Is it me, or are there a lot of remakes opening this week?

Read Paul Willistein's movie reviews at the Lehigh Valley Press web site, thelehighvalley-press.com; the Times-News web site, tnonline.com; and hear them on "Lehigh Valley Art Salon," 6 - 6:30 p.m. Mondays, WDIY 88.1 FM, and wdiy.org, where they're archived. Email Paul Willistein: pwillistein@ tnonline.com. You can follow Paul Willistein on Twitter and friend Paul Willistein on facebook.