Review of Steve Jobs (2015) by Jessica T — 22 Jan 2016

"Musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra.".

Danny Boyle might have been the director of this biopic, but the true orchestrator of the film was Aaron Sorkin who once again delivers a powerful and engaging screenplay that makes the entire cast look fantastic. There is no denying the genius of Jobs, but it is so hard to encapsulate an entire life into a two hour film (several attempts have been made but failed to do so until now), but Sorkin masterfully pulls it off by focusing the film in three stages; each one involving a product launch. The first act takes place in 1984 during the launch of the Macintosh computer. Here we are introduced to Jobs's vision and his stormy relationship with his co-workers as well as with the mother of his daughter who he refuses to recognize. Jobs is an intriguing man with a unique vision who can't seem to balance his personal relationships with his creative genius. Through witty dialogues and fantastic character interactions we get a glimpse of who this man is. The second stage takes place after Jobs has been fired from the company he co-founded, for the launch of his new creation: NeXT in 1988. And the final third act is where he is finally consecrated as a genius during the launch of the IMac computer after having been called back to save the almost bankrupt company.

The performances are fantastic, but you couldn't expect less from such a rich script. Michael Fassbender is superb as Jobs. He delivers an outstanding performance of such an iconic public figure. But the rest of the cast never falls behind. Kate Winslet plays his head of marketing, Joanna Hoffman, who is brilliant and shines in every scene she shares with Fassbender. Apple's CEO, John Scully is interpreted by Jeff Daniels, and there is a fantastic parallel scene where he and Jobs go off at each other during two specific moments that changed their relationship. Then there is another powerful scene where Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) have a disputed argument where they finally let all their feelings out in the open. Every character in this film has his or her moment and each one is key to unravelling who Jobs was and how he thought. The film is perfectly written and I don't think anyone will take the Oscar away from Sorkin.