Review of Jobs (2013) by Jacob — 25 Aug 2015

Jobs tells the story of Steve Jobs but that’s it. As a film that serves to show Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) going from guy in garage building personal computers to guy in charge of Apple it works. I’m not quite familiar with the life of Steve Jobs but the story seemed to flow alright.

Making a bio-pic may not have been the best course of action for the film as its story is stretched out. Rather than focus on a specific point in Jobs life (ex. working in his garage) the film shows a broad approach.

On one end, this helps to show how far Jobs has come in certain areas going from nothing to a big celebrity but at the same time it means that none of these moments can be fleshed out a lot. The film is constantly jumping around causing jobs arc from jerk to megajerk to nice guy doesn’t get fleshed out properly.

The film feels long and empty because it covers so much yet there is no substance or heart to allow me to connect to Jobs’ struggle. The film fails to flesh out Jobs as a character and at times it just feels like a cheap rip-off of The Social Network where a smart genius is a jerk pushing away people while climbing the ladder of success.

It feels like an Oscar wannabe at times with all the key moments guy struggling and lots of shouting clips that I’m guessing the filmmakers thought could be used when Ashton Kutcher got the nomination he never received.

It’s a shame too considering how the filmmakers got a lot of actors that look like their real-life counter-parts, J.K. Simmons, and a relaxing guitar score; that isn’t enough to cut though the film needs substance and heart and this film lacks it.

Hopefully the new Steve Jobs film with Micahel Fassbender will tell a more in-depth, substancial, and better take on the story.