Steve Jobs
STEVE JOBS (15)
D: Danny Boyle
Universal/Legendary (Danny Boyle, Christian Colson, Mark
Gordon, Scott Rudin & Guymon Casady)
US 2015
122 mins
Biopic/Drama
W: Aaron Sorkin [based on the biography by
Walter Isaacson]
DP: Alwin H. Külcher
Ed: Elliot Graham
Mus: Daniel Pemberton
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Kate
Winslet (Joanna Hoffman), Jeff Daniels (John Sculley), Seth Rogen (Steve Wozniak), Katherine Waterston (Chrisann Brennan), Michael Stuhlbarg (Andy Hertzfeld)
Passionate, brilliant, revolutionary and stubborn. This
warts-and-all biopic of the perfectionist CEO of Apple Inc isn't afraid to make the main protagonist largely unlikeable, but the strength of the screenplay and Michael Fassbender's excellent
performance still evokes sympathy for the technology guru, even though his lack of manners made him a host of enemies on his journey to his fortune.
The story, from a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, generally
follows a three-act structure, each of which occurs before the launch of a new product; the flawed Apple Macintosh in 1984, the doomed Black Cube in 1988 and finally the hugely successful iMac in
the early 1990's.
The build up to each launch sees the belligerent Jobs trade
blows with a multitude of employees, friends, former lovers and aides, particularly with his equally passionate PA Joanna Hoffman (Winslet) and former friend and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak
(Rogen). He also has a bitter dispute with a woman who makes paternity claims, and though Jobs initially disowns the child, their relationship develops over the course of the film.
Similarities can easily be made with 2010's The Social
Network, which was also adapted by Aaron Sorkin, especially in the respect that, if you want to be a software billionaire, you also have to be an arsehole, although in the case of Steve Jobs, the
film's closing moments do provide him some redemption.
7/10
