​FILMS

steve jobs

It's not a difficult job to enjoy Steve Jobs.

2016 review number 11:

Steve Jobs: (Drama): 79 out of 100: Who remembers the 2013 biopic of Steve Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher? You might not even know there was one released only a few years ago. Just a few years after the satisfactory but ultimately forgettable biopic of Steve Jobs comes this vastly superior version. This version directed by Danny Boyle, the Academy Award winning director of Slumdog Millionaire, and written by Aaron Sorkin, the Oscar winning writer of The Social Network, is the 'biopic' you should see. The reason why 'biopic' is in inverted commas is because it's not the traditional biopic where one's life story is told from beginning to end. This version has been divided into three important times of Job's life and just shows that focusing on key aspects of one's life is often better than having everything crammed into the whole film.

 

It is 1984 and Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) is about to promote the Apple Macintosh. However there is a voice demo glitch that angers him and he demands engineer Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg) fix it or he will publicly humiliate him in his presentation. Meanwhile the marketing executive, Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), urges Jobs to reconcile with his daughter who he denies is his. The Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) is also offside with Jobs because he won't acknowledge the Apple II team in his presentation. Four years later and Jobs has been fired by his own company with CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels) now calling all the shots. Jobs now has his own company and is about to promote the NeXT computer. Ten years later he is back with Apple and he is about to unveil the iMac when his daughter reenters his life.

 

It's a travesty that Aaron Sorkin hasn't been given an Oscar nomination for his screenplay even though he received a Golden Globe. It's a typically brilliant script, worthy of comparison with any of Sorkin's prior work. His entertaining script reveals so much within the confines of the settings, which are on the stage and backstage. He does occasionally include flashbacks to inject more information yet these are not intrusive in the flow of the story. The dialogue is frequently witty and allows the actors to hold centre stage. The performances led by Fassbender and Winslet are brilliant and they have been duly rewarded with Oscar nominations.

 

Boyle keeps things moving along with his camera to eliminate the risk of having a stagey feeling which would have been so easy to do given the number of interior settings. As usual with Boyle's films, there are some excellent choices for the background music including classical pieces and popular artists such as Bob Dylan.

 

This is not the classic biopic that some viewers prefer but making this film like a three act play ensures that there is always vitality and energy in the dialogue. Boyle's confident and assured camera movements help shape the story and significantly enhance the actors' performances. There's no need to see Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher but there is a need to see Steve Jobs starring Michael Fassbender.

 

Starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels and Michael Stuhlbarg

(122 minutes)

Parental advice: Coarse language

Additional scene during or after credits: No

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEr6K1bwIVs (Movie trailer)

 

(Reviewed on Thursday 21st January, 2016)

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