Steve Jobs (2015)

Genre

Biography | Drama

Director

Danny Boyle

Country

USA

Cast

Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Katherine Waterston, Michael Stuhlbarg, Makenzie Moss, Ripley Sobo, Perla Haney-Jardine, Sarah Snook, Adam Shapiro, John Ortiz, Stan Roth

Storyline

Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.

Opinion

When "Jobs" came out back in 2013, I avoided it like the plague mostly because of Ashton Kutcher. But being the huge fan of Apple and Steve Jobs I am, I couldn't hold my excitement for this new biopic, written by Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin ("The Social Network"), directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire"), and starring my favourite actor, Michael Fassbender. Still, according to fanboys, I was supposed to hate this film. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint them, but I loved it. 

An intelligent, interesting, well-acted character study that avoids being a full-life biopic, "Steve Jobs" is exactly what someone would expect from a collaboration between Boyle and Sorkin.

Although it's not his best, Aaron Sorkin's screenplay captured the essence of a genius, a visionary, examining this man's nature through the interacting with relatives, friends and colleagues during three stressful moments of his life. 

The whole film takes place before each launch - it's some sort of behind the scenes - and it's pure genius. Instead of bore us to death with a story everyone already knows about professional success and personal unsuccess, Sorkin decided to tell a story about success on the human front, a success achieved with difficulty, not before going through years of professional failures as well as public humiliations.

Sorkin's script is filled with brilliant dialogue, and, with the help of Danny Boyle's elegant and beautiful stylistic direction, manages to fill two whole hours with people arguing in empty room and avoids to be tedious. To be honest, time flew by!

And last but not least the outstanding acting. An almost unrecognizable Michael Fassbender gives a magnificent performance and provides a marvelous portrayal of Steve Jobs. He captures every single shade of Jobs - his stubbornness, his arrogance, his incompatibility with the rest of the world, everything. I am not sure when was the last time I've seen an actor disappear in their character so wonderfully. Kate Winslet is outstanding as Joanna Hoffman, Job's assistant, she nails the accent, and her chemistry with Fassbender is great. I didn't see this coming but Seth Rogen surprised me the most, doing a great job as Steve Wozniak. He should stick to this kind of roles. Jeff Daniels also gives a solid performance. 

Memorable quotes

Steve Wozniak: What do you do? You're not an engineer. You're not a designer. You can't put a hammer to a nail. I built the circuit board! The graphical interface was stolen! So how come ten times in a day I read Steve Jobs is a genius? What do you do?

Steve Jobs: Musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra.