Review of Steve Jobs (2015) by Alan W — 20 Nov 2015

Maybe my fellow bloggers' less than stellar reviews have managed my expectations or maybe I'm just more used to Aaron Sorkin's wordy style after years of watching his work on TV and in films, but I respectfully have to disagree with the other reviews here: the 2hrs running time flew by for me and I really enjoyed the film's original and entertaining take on the biopic genre.

I would concede that the structure of the film, using imagined confrontations and meetings with the same set of characters before 3 different product launches; essentially a series of duologues, are too neat and too articulate to be real.

But it is a clever conceit that's brilliantly written and executed, summing up the man's achievements while nailing both his ambitiousness as a businessman and his flaws as a human being. Michael Fassbender is mesmerizing but the others, even Seth Rogen, are all given ample screen time to spar with Fassbender and to shine.

Between the rhythmic, tension-building editing and Danny Boyle's fluid yet controlled directing, the film manages to make even the dullest corporate dealings as exciting and riveting to watch as any action sequence in your blockbuster thrillers.