STEVE JOBS [BLU-RAY] (2015)

SYNOPSIS: Witness the founder of Apple like never before. Steve Jobs paints an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at the epicenter of the digital revolution, backstage in the final minutes before three iconic product launches.

MOVIE REVIEW:

With talents liked David Fincher, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and Sony departing the project over the years, it seems liked Steve Jobs the movie is unlikely to materialized for a while. But with Universal and Legendary acquiring the project, Oscar winning director Danny Boyle and Michael Fassbender were roped in to push the production forward.

When it was finally released in December 2015 to critical acclaims, no one bother to buy a ticket to see the story of Apple’s most famous co-founder. Is it the fault of Aaron Sorkin’s (The Social Network) treatment of the script or was it because of the earlier dismal Ashton Kutcher version that deterred moviegoers?

Nevertheless, Steve Jobs boasts a terrific cast and best of all, it has a brilliant script by Sorkin. It doesn’t even have a proper traditional story structure in the first place. Narratively, Steve Jobs is split into three acts liked a stage play. Every single event happened at the backstage or makeup room before a product launch, the 1984 Macintosh launch, the 1988 NeXT computer and in 1998 when Jobs made his comeback at Apple with the iMac. It’s through these various events, audiences get a glimpse of this visionary man, his characterization, his temper, his infamous reality distortion field, his dealing with Apple co-founder and best friend Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) and his estranged relationship with his daughter, Lisa.

Sorkin has acknowledged that most of the happenings actually happened just not before the product launches. And even though it’s based on the best-selling biography by Walter Isaacson, Sorkin and Boyle never treat the entire movie liked a conventional biopic. For a movie subject about a tech giant, there’s hardly a moment about technology (forget about the iPod and iPhone), Steve Jobs is a frank portrait of a very complicated man. A man not easily understood by his once best friend and CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels) or peers liked Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlberg) who worked with him on the very first Mac with one exception, Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), Apple’s marketing executive the only person who can tolerate his temper and coerce him into taking her advice.   

Besides Birdman and Before Sunrise, this is honestly one of the very few movies in the universe that feature a lot of walking and talking simultaneously. With occasional flashbacks, there’s hardly a change of backdrop and if you have a fetish for hallways, you know this is the right movie to look for. Fassbender gives an outstanding performance as Steve Jobs though we were at first skeptical about him not looking the part. It’s a pity he has too many strong opponents in the Oscar race. Credit also goes to Danny Boyle for creating an electric viewing experience out of a talky script. Simply, Steve Jobs is an intellectual movie that features great acting and sleek execution, don’t miss it!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Inside Jobs: The Making of Steve Jobs is a three part making-of feature that talks primarily about the story, music, set design, intense rehearsals and feature interviews with writer Aaron Sorkin, director Danny Boyle and the main cast members, Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet and Jeff Daniels. 

Listening to the Audio Commentary by Director Danny Boyle is an entertaining experience. Boyle is able to capture your attention with his enthusiastic tone and attention to filming details which makes this a must listen track.

Audio Commentary by Writer Aaron Sorkin and Editor Elliot Graham is paler by comparison, it has plenty of quiet spots though it still offer a reasonable amount of information such as the writing and editing process.  

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The movie is shot in 16mm, 35mm and digital. With the exception of Act 1 and Act 2 being slightly grainy, there’s no major discomfort because you know it’s all intended by the filmmakers to portray the different eras and I think it’s a lauded decision after all. For a script that is over 200 pages long, dialogue is of utmost important. It’s clear and precise and the electronic music by Daniel Pemberton is edgy in a good way.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee



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