Steve Jobs

Dir: Danny Boyle

2015

****

Steve Jobs has become somewhat of an icon of the modern world. He is revered and respected by many and despised by everyone else, indeed, it seems you either love or hate the man or simply not know who he is, although these people are in the minority. I would argue that no one other than those close to him really knew who he was, the public really have only what he produced in his life as reference. I don't hate anybody but it has irked me that Jobs is held with such high regard that he is compared with the likes of Albert Eisenstein and John Logie Baird. Essentially Jobs sold (not made) something that already existed, just smaller and more powerful versions of. Maybe that's a little unfair of me and shows you what little knowledge and interest I have in computers but essentially, Apple sells storage solutions. He was clearly a man with a vision but it was other people who made these things a reality. Apple is a popular company, Steve Jobs is the face of it. I like a gadget like anyone else but when you hear of suicide nets being installed in their ginormous production factories in China you have to consider whether this brand really is something worth celebrating. For me it represents the grim extremes of consumerism and I don't like it, indeed, I boycott the company. However, I pushed all that aside when watching Danny Boyle's film and tried to watch with an open mind. Boyle made this quite easy as this is not a sugar-coated biopic. Jobs comes across pretty much exactly as I had imagined after reading about him. Those that were closest to him have all given the film their blessing and while they all agree that much of what happens in the movie didn't actually happen that way in real life, it captured the man, the atmosphere and the essence of truth. Most people will know Jobs from his big launches. Boyle splits the film into three acts, one for each of Jobs' major product launches (Apple Mac, NeXt, iMac) accordingly with each product representing, or mirroring, his career, relationships and temperament at that time-point. It's the perfect screenplay. Michael Fassbender's performance is totally convincing and utterly captivating. Kate Winslet gives one of her best performances as Joanna Hoffman, Jobs' real life marketing executive and confidant, and Seth Rogen proves he can do more than just comedy with an excellent portrayal of computer legend Steve 'Woz' Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and creator of the Apple II. It's pure theatre, theatre at its best I might add. Many misconceptions are corrected and interesting facts revealed, although Boyle does feed the legend a bit too, I can't say I like or respect the man any more than I did before watching but there is something about him I do now admire. It's quite the unexpected drama with far more thrills than I had anticipated, certainly one of the biggest surprises of 2015 but also one of the most under-appreciated.