Review of Steve Jobs (2015) by Wayne K — 15 May 2016

Steve Jobs, a.k.a., Arrogant Man Spends 2 Hours Arguing About The Same Things Over & Over Again, should have been a fantastic movie. Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, Michael Fassbender in the lead role and Danny Boyle in the Director's chair.

How could that go wrong? Well much like a cocktail being spoiled by having too many ingredients in it, Steve Jobs attempts to maintain interest by simply throwing all it possibly can at the audience. Quick-fire dialogue can be used effectively, such as when depicting frantic situations, but there has to be times when it's toned down to allow the viewers to absorb the information and register the emotions.

But here the whole film is essentially a 2 hour session of the titular C.E.O. getting chewed out by practically everyone around him. I wanted to care about him and believe in his convictions, but the film never gives you a chance, persistently clobbering you over the head with technobabble and family drama and giving you no time to process it.

I didn't feel involved, only increasingly alienated. The acting is great and Fassbender, especially in the 3rd act, resembles the late Mr. Jobs uncannily, and there's quite a few laughs, especially a great running joke revolving around 2 employees who share a first name which has a terrific payoff, but it's not enough to save it overall.

Every detail is spoon fed, the technological advancements are explained to us rather than being shown, and Jobs speeches, which could have been among the movies highlights, are completely omitted, which feels like the biggest of cop outs.

If you have a keen interest in Jobs and the rise of Apple as a global superpower then it might have a strong appeal, but to me it was verbose, repetitive and ultimately unrewarding.