Review of Steve Jobs (2015) by Spangle — 18 Sep 2016

Steve Jobs is a film that has some flaws, but above all, it defiantly strikes home just how brilliant Aaron Sorkin is a writer. Steve Jobs be damned. Actors be damned. The film is all about Sorkin, which is both a gift and a curse. With every Sorkinism in the book (the film is 94% walking and talking), Steve Jobs is a magnifying, dense, and structural behemoth with writing that steals the showcase and refuses to let anyone else steal the spotlight. No matter how brilliant Michael Fassbender is as Jobs or Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, the writing is the star of this play.

The tragic flaw in this is that it loses sight of its main character. Though the film is about Steve Jobs, it feels oddly formatted. I am fine with them skipping over the reveals and just focusing on the background conversations before the reveals. However, it should have focused more on the aftermath. The failures, the personal turmoil, and Steve Jobs' firing more. It touched on it, but never with any depth. Instead, it demands Steve Jobs to show emotion and show his hand, but he is incapable of doing this. Thus, much of the film falls on deaf ears. It is cool to look at, well shot, well acted, and the dialogue is impeccable. But, it lacks any weight. This is why the best was saved for last with Steve's conversation with his daughter Lisa (Perla Haney-Jardine). With the weight that the rest of the film demanded, the dialogue in the sequence and the emotional power of it all made me want to jump up and celebrate. When Jobs finally opens up and shows his human side to his daughter, the film is a resounding success. The end shot that fades slowly as Jobs walks the stage and looks back lovingly at Lisa is absolutely impeccable. In one scene, Danny Boyle encapsulated everything that makes cinema wonderful. The cinematic strength and power of that final scene is unlike that I have seen in a long, long time. Immaculate is the perfect word for it. Unfortunately, the rest of the film just lacks any of that power. Not even a hint of that heart.

The film is unwilling to vilify Jobs as well for his inadequacies as a father and a person. Bracing the audience for every punch by reminding us just how brilliant he was and what a visionary he was, every time we are shown that he is an **** we still come away thinking, "Yeah, but he's innovative". As if that is some accomplishment. That said, it does a good job capturing the two sides of Jobs. While they do not gel together, Sorkin captures Jobs at his most assholish states as well as at his most brilliant. It is hard to place your finger on the man, maybe because he was a diverse human being with two sides. Thus, my complaint may be silly, but all the same, it felt tonally off as a result of not following through with either the vilification or the celebration. Though there was some attempt at the latter in the aforementioned conversation with Lisa, it hardly makes up for the rest of the film when he treats everyone in his life like garbage.

On the positive side, there are a lot of strengths to this film. Fassbender and Winslet are brilliant. Jeff Daniels' turn as Apple CEO John Scully is as impressive as always. Seth Rogen is shockingly good as Steve Wozniak. Michael Stuhlbag, an always terrific character actor, is phenomenal as Andy Hertzfeld. It is a shame he did not get more recognition. Danny Boyle's direction is assured as always. Though, it feels very different than many of his other films. Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours, all had a similar Eisensteinian kind of feeling to them. Packed with conflict in the editing with scenes, quick cuts, and I do not really know how to describe it...an authentic feeling maybe? They feel raw, unfiltered, and natural. Steve Jobs is far more Hollywoodized with camera work more along the lines of the typical Aaron Sorkin film. Tracking shots like ones straight out of Goodfellas are the norm here and in his films as the camera struggles to keep up with the characters. Steve Jobs is a mirror image of all of his past works in this regard.

The writing is very dense and detailed, but so is the direction. The writing is obviously dense with obscure references and big words to match the brilliance of Jobs. The direction, however, is equally as detailed. One example that I feel brings this to light the best is when Jobs is arguing with Wozniak before the launch of the iMac. As Wozniak storms off after Jobs refused to acknowledge the Apple2 team yet again, the screen behind Jobs changes to the Apple logo and tagline, "Think Different". A small detail in a film with many subtleties, but appreciated nonetheless.

Steve Jobs is a tough film to truly assess. With incredible writing and direction, is undeniably brilliant artistically. The film itself is wildly entertaining. Watching this brilliance, Sorkin's language, and Sorkin's conversations is never boring. Yet, as a biopic, it feels like it never let's you in. It feels too distant.