While Her has received critical acclaim, Oscar nominations, and overall success since its release in 2013, it is now garnering attention of a different kind — allegedly, it is a stolen idea. The writer, producer, and director of the film, Her mastermind Spike Jonze is now being sued by two men who claim Jonze copied the idea from a screenplay they wrote years ago. But, if you take a closer look at the two screenplays, aside from a few minor similarities, they are clearly not the same movie.
Sachin Gadh and Jonathan Sender, the two men suing Jonze, claim that Her was allegedly stolen from the screenplay for their film, Belv — which is currently referred to by the creators as The Belv Show— which depicts the main character as a man unlucky in love who turns to an electronic pocket device as his wingman.
At the very core of both story lines, we admit there are similarities. Both films feature a lovesick man as the protagonist. Both films include the use of an electronic as a means for love. However, that's where the similarities stop. When watching the trailers for both films, it's overwhelmingly apparent that the two films are very different. While Her is the story about a man who falls in love with a computer, Belv uses the computer as his pal. Her seems intelligent while The Belv Show seems purposefully silly.
It's almost an insult to Jonze to even suggest that his latest film masterpiece was knocked off from this less expensive production. While we await the courts' decision, watch The Belv Show's trailer here and decide for yourself whether or not Jonze really did rip off his idea from these guys.
