When most people hear the name “Apple,” they associate it with Steve Jobs. However, there is much more to this global company than just one man, as seen in Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs, released on Oct. 23.
According to IMDb, “Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution, to paint a portrait of the man at its epicenter. The story unfolds backstage at three iconic product launches, ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac.”
The opening scene is set in 1984, where Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) is about to present his first Macintosh launch to the world. Jobs’ right hand “man,” Joanne Hoffman (Kate Winslet), is trying to prepare him for this big moment. Hoffman is the Head of Marketing at Macintosh at the time, and basically tells him what he should or shouldn’t do and makes sure that everything is aligned correctly.
While Jobs is having trouble with the Macintosh right before the launch, he faces one of his biggest personal problems in the form of his ex-lover, Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston), and her daughter, Lisa, (Makenzie Moss). Lisa is said to be more than 90 percent likely his daughter, but he will not admit to this. Instead, Jobs wires Chrisann money as she begs for it and denies that Lisa is his responsibility. In this opening scene, Lisa is merely 5-years-old, and Jobs is very cold towards her. He only lightens up once he sees that Lisa has used the Paint application to draw her own “abstract” picture.
After his Macintosh launch, the product somewhat flops. There was an incredible hype behind it, but instead, the consumers can’t seem to find its purpose, and some found it hard to use.
We then fast forward to 1988 for Jobs’ launch of his “Next” computer. We learn that Jobs has been fired from Apple by his boss, John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), and that his partner, Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) is suing him, along with Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg). The reasons behind this unravel as the plot continues.
Jobs’ last launch fast forwards to 1998 with the release of the iMac. In this final scene, Jobs realizes the relationships that he has damaged, but is lucky enough to repair a few. We learn that he has been somewhat turned off emotionally because of things that happened in his life, and that he didn’t mean to be so hard. This final scene reminds the audience that he was deep down a good person, even though he didn’t always show his ‘nice side.’
One feature that I enjoyed about the movie was the way in which it was filmed. In the beginning scene, the year was 1984, and the picture itself was more pixelated. It still looked clear, but the not-so-high-definition film gave more of a dated feel, which fit the timeframe. As the year progressed, so did the picture itself. By the end, in 1998, the picture was very vivid and clear. It made me feel as though it was more realistic that time was passing.
I was also impressed with the cast itself. Rogen is usually cast in comedies, but his role as Wozniak was very serious. I was unsure if he would be able to pull off this serious character without being able to crack any jokes, but the role suited him well. This not only applied to Rogen, but to the entire cast. Each character seemed to play his or her role well, and the intense scenes that involved fighting between friends felt very realistic.
On Rotten Tomatoes, a well-known review source, the film received an 85 out of 100 by critics. The average rating of the movie on the site was a 7.5/10 out of 178 reviews counted. The site also lists how the audience scored the film, which is at 78 percent. According to the site, the average rating was a 3.8/5, conducted from 24,345 user ratings.
Overall, I certainly enjoyed the film. I am not one to religiously watch biographies, but this is one that I’d highly recommend.
IMAGE COURTESY of powerpage.com
