I’ve been meaning to see this film ever since it came out and I’m glad I finally did ten years later. This film is so of its time, it almost flummoxing. Written by Arron Sorkin, a normal man with normal things to say, and directed by Danny Boyle, Steve Jobs almost works.
The film takes place over decades using new product launches to check in with the titular Jobs. We first meet Steve when he is a young jackass who is arguing with a former lover about whether or not he is the father of her child. Then we see him as a slightly older jackass who is at a career and life low point, but now trying to be a decent father to the young girl he admits is his daughter. Then finally, we see him as an old jackass who has estranged his daughter through his jackassery only to then reunite with her.
Overall, it is a simple and effective way to tell a story about what one might call a “Complicated Man” aka “an asshole.”
Michael Fassbender, a complicated man himself, (I use that term in life because of a Times interview he did where he describes himself as such. If I can find it later I’ll add it here.) does supremely well in the role of Jobs, sporting an American accent reminiscent of Joe Pera and an ass so flat that even Nebraska is impressed. He does a great job of portraying a man who cannot fathom expressing a single emotion other than frustration.
Kate Winslet is the second lead in this picture who also sports an accent not her own, this one Polish. As to her ass, I won’t get into it too much other than to say, it’s the opposite of the Fassbender situation. Kate does an excellent job of grounding the chaos of the picture. I haven’t seen her in many films, but I was impressed by this performance.
Seth Rogan is also here doing a good job at being grounded and real, both himself and the character, a terrific job and a real turning point for his career. My boy Michael Stuhlbarg comes in and lights up every scene he’s a part of. Michael is a perfect performer and deeply sympathetic in his performance in this film.
Danny Boyle is an incredible director bring flash and energy to what would have been an animally dull script on its own. He uses different film and aspect ratio to denote the different time periods and, as always, uses music in the edit to great effect.
The script is written by Aaron Sorkin the guy that wrote The Social Network and boy does it smell like it. Big check for Aaron I’m sure. It’s a great script if you like Aaron Sorkin and his everyone is the smartest person in the world kind of dialogue, but if you’re like me it can be a bit taxing.
I will say, much like the combo of Fincher and Sorkin in the social network the combo of Boyle and Sorkin balances each other out quite well.
Overall, this film is very enjoyable and a kind of movie we’re not making much of anymore. I’d recommend it and you can probably get it at your local library like I did.
The runtime is 122 minutes.