Review of Jobs (2013) by Robert M — 28 Mar 2015

"Jobs" could have been "insanely great" but instead gives a lackluster glance at the highlights and low lights of Steve Jobs' life.

While the film is factually accurate from the events cited and statements Steve Jobs made down to the realism of the characters appearances, it lacked character development and a cohesive story. It is well cast and well acted. However, with major events being presented in the film like news headlines, there is no story justifying their existence. Steve Jobs is portrayed giving repeated quoted monologues instead of engaging in real dialog between himself and his co-workers to illustrate the chemistry of their relationships that lead to their success.

The film was remiss of major events and details needed to explain Apple's success story. Jobs got his start in electronics working for Hewlett-Packard after calling founder William Hewlett on the phone at his home. Jobs met Wozniak at HP. And, Jobs used "The HP Way" as a blueprint for starting Apple Computer. Steve Jobs' miraculous turnaround of Apple from near bankrupt to profitable in three years and to the world's largest company in 13 years, business leaders consider the biggest ever success story in the history of American business. How the film could leave out this turnaround (inventing the highly successful iMac, PowerPC, iPod, iTunes and iPhone) is astonishing. Even before coming back to Apple, Jobs re-invented Pixar animation after buying The Graphics Group from George Lucas, revolutionizing animated movies for Disney that were created on NeXT graphics workstations (the most advanced in existence) that Steve Jobs invented. This, too, was omitted from the film.

In one of his biographies, Steve Jobs explains succinctly how the iPod epitomizes Apple Computer, "it combines Apple's incredible technology base with Apple's legendary ease of use with Apple's awesome design." This is the premise upon which "Jobs" should have been based. I recommend the film but with reservations.