by Frank Calvillo
It seems that each incarnation of Steve Jobs that hits the silver screen, be it feature film or documentary, seems relentlessly determined on hammering home the fact that the man was a virtually unlikeable human being. The portrait of Jobs in Steve Jobs is intent on continuing this tradition with acclaimed filmmaker Danny Boyle directing from Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay. The end result is a semi-reimagined look at a man who spent his life trying to reconcile his cold, egomaniacal tendencies with a one-of-a-kind passion and vision.
This retelling of one of the most innovative figures of the last century focuses on three separate product launches/milestones in the career of Jobs (Michael Fassbender). The first takes place in 1984 as the first mac is about the be unveiled, while the second, taking place four years later, shows Jobs’s attempt to branch out on his own by launching the NEXT cube. Finally, ten years later, we see Jobs on the morning he is to debut the first ever iMac. At each of the launches we are introduced to a number of key figures in Jobs’ life, including his eternally-frustrated, yet fearlessly dedicated head of marketing Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), his former partner Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen), former Apple CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), and developer Andy Hurtzveldt (Michael Stuhlbarg), all of whom contribute their own takes on the man himself and how he became who he was.
As much pedigree as Steve Jobs has going into it, there are a surprising number of elements which keep it from fully coming together, the biggest of which being the film’s structure. In short, the film plays out not like a film, but rather like a stage play in terms of the architecture and interplay between actors. The film simply feels to be moving way too fast (at times even seeming like the camera might outrun the actors) and only occasionally giving audiences a chance to catch their breath and savor the stellar dialogue, actions, and performances. Yes, the nature of the screenplay and the events it depicts call for a hurriedness, but the end result is a film that only feels partially cinematic. Quite simply, this is one of the few times I’ve seen a film play out like a staged play which never came from a play at all.
Yet, the talent responsible for Steve Jobs ensure that the film remains an unforgettable experience on a great many levels. Certainly the greatest examples of this, visually anyway, are the different methods of filming employed by Boyle in each of the three acts. The 1984 sequence is shot in 16 mm, the 1988 in 70mm, and the 1998 in digital. Not only does this make Steve Jobs visually stunning, but it also manages to take audiences on a sort of journey through time and history. Meanwhile, the continuous back and forth between the tracing of each technical milestone and the emotional complexity of Jobs’ life gives the film the kind of dramatic weight it deserves. By the time the final act rolls around, the still-dynamic aspects of the story are there, as are the involving personal entanglements in the man’s life, which are highlighted by a powerhouse exchange between Jobs and Wozniak and a deeply human final moment between Jobs and his estranged daughter.
Steve Jobs is an actor-driven movie if there ever was one. For any performer worth their weight in salt the movie is like candy, and each cast member knows this. Winslet is expectedly outstanding as Joanna, excelling in yet another role which is nothing like she’s ever played before. Holding his own, Rogen plays Wozniak with a restrained goofiness, slowly unveiling a captivating depth, making everyone wish he was in the script a lot more than the finished product lets him be. Meanwhile, Daniels is totally magnetic and Stuhlbarg is as expert as ever, both playing long-suffering allys/victims of Jobs’ complex nature.
All eyes are on Fassbender, however, who is sadly only partially successful in bringing the already larger than life figure to the screen. In no way am I implying that Fassbender doesn’t have the tools to pull off the role. In fact, there are moments where he commands the screen in a ferocious manner, as well he should. Part of the problem is that the role seems rather unplayable at times due to the nature of the real-life individual, which is too full of guarded emotional conflict to completely dig through.
This being a typical Sorkin project, naturally there’s an endless amount of fast-paced dialogue which typically ends with the film’s actors playing a sort of verbal tennis match using eloquent rackets. Most of the dialogue, especially that of Jobs, is full of great wit, which only adds fire to the man’s elitist image, such as when he brazenly proclaims, “God sent his only son on a suicide mission, but people like him because he made trees.” Other times, the script is earnest and real, such as when Joanna states to a closed off Jobs, “I love that you don’t care how much money a person makes, you care what they make. But what you make isn’t supposed to be the best part of you.” If the overall film is difficult to embrace, or even at times even like, thanks to moments like these, its never anything short of spectacular.
The Package
A three part making-of documentary (which runs almost the length of the film itself) accompanies the release of Steve Jobs, along with two separate commentaries featuring Boyle and Sorkin. In each instance, all of those involved talk about what drew them to the project before proceeding to continuously defend the many liberties taken with the film’s true-life events.
The Lowdown
Steve Jobs is a decidedly dark tale about how one man came to shape a large part of the society we live in today.
