Review of Steve Jobs (2015) by Filmphonic — 22 Nov 2015

‘Steve Jobs’ is thankfully not your typical biopic with its familiar and predictable cradle-to-grave structure and tiresome narrative highs & lows, Sorkin’s sharp and dynamic dialogue, coupled with familiar techniques like the ole’ walk n’ talk, makes the subject and the story far more engrossing than it should be, despite its historical significance.

The story is structured very much like a play with a no cuts aesthetic ala ‘Birdman’ which fits perfectly around the Sorkinesque dialogue, and it revolves around the lead up to 3 major product launches for Jobs; the 1984 Apple Macintosh launch billed as revolutionary, the 1988 doomed launch of NeXT computers after Jobs was removed from Apple by the board, and the triumphant return of the prodigal son to Apple for the 1998 launch of the iMac.

All the drama unfolds minutes before Jobs is scheduled to take the stage, which might be inaccurate but works to great dramatic effect. By not following Jobs’s real success which took place mainly in the 21st century, Boyle and Sorkin have chosen to focus on the early visionary days of success mixed with plenty of failure, which helped to form or magnify the man’s abrasive and driven character, and which makes ‘Steve Jobs’ a far more memorable experience than a typical full-life biopic.

The irresistible Michael Fassbender stars as the late Apple co-founder in a truly phenomenal central performance which captures the complicated personality of a man who was more of a tyrannical control freak than most CEOs, and who had a confrontational perfectionist personality which was the stuff of legend within the industry and went well beyond the boardroom into his family life.

‘Steve Jobs’ is neither a fanboy pleasing ode to Jobs nor is it a detractor’s attack on Apple Inc., Sorkin’s writing style and the tone of the film will be divisive, not to mention the characters, and technophobes may take issue with a narrative that’s unfortunately necessary for this story. But this is a bold and refreshing attempt to flesh out the psyche of a towering figure of the 21st century and even goes into his difficult childhood, which depending on your perspective, provides either a reason or an excuse for his personality and actions.

The film works well as an exploration of how we view “geniuses” and life-changing entrepreneurs, what we are prepared to overlook for what they give us, and what that says about our capitalist society. Ultimately ‘Steve Jobs’ casts a light, although a dim one, on what Jobs’s real genius was, not as a visionary inventor or designer, but as an expert on human psychology and a master manipulator, and no doubt one of the greatest marketers ever.

After all, this is the man who created a techno-cult that has burgeoned into a pseudo religion which convinced the world to consistently buy sexy but limited closed technology they don’t need, at extortionate prices, and worship him for it.

The Bottom Line….

‘Steve Jobs’ will be a divisive film thanks to an unorthodox narrative and frenetic dialogue, not to mention the unsympathetic nature of the titular character, but Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s bold storytelling coupled with Michael Fassbender’s remarkable performance results in a riveting triumph of biographical filmmaking, and a fascinating psychological exploration of the man who may well have defined the 21st century.