Steve Jobs Review

It's unfortunate that no one gives enough of a shit about me to watch a film about my life, because if my mundane existence could result in box office gold, I would want Aaron Sorkin to write the screenplay. The guy is just so gifted with dialogue.

When The Social Network was released, I recall talking to people who seemed baffled why anyone would want to watch a movie about the guy who started Facebook. "Who cares?" they said, with no interest in wasting two hours of their lives on the story of Mark Zuckerberg. Over five years after the release of that film, it stands as one of my ten favorites of all time. Why? Well, to be fair, plenty of reasons working together harmoniously, but without the words of Sorkin still bouncing through my mind after all this time it wouldn't be the masterpiece that it is.

The same thing happened with Steve Jobs, although in this case I think the problem isn't solely a lack of interest in the subject. This time it has a lot to do with that feeling of redundancy since just two years earlier the film Jobs was released with Ashton Kutcher playing the lead role, and that picture was received very poorly. So when acclaimed filmmaker Danny Boyle decided to take on the story and try to craft something far more extraordinary, which Jobs posthumously deserves considering how iconic of a figure he has become over time, I think people shrugged and figured they had already seen it done and it wasn't very good. Why do it again?

Well, I can give you a few reasons why. The tight, confident direction of Boyle. The incredible lead performance from Michael Fassbender who has become one of the finest actors working today. The excellent supporting work from Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg and Katherine Waterson that, along with Fassbender, deliver the terrifically written words with perfection.

Those words are it though. Those are the key. Sorkin did it again. 

Prior to watching this film, I already knew the whole story of Steve Jobs. I knew he was a genius who along with his partners helped change our world forever. I knew he was flawed as all of us are, a man who rubbed many the wrong way and even hurt those closest to him during his rocky and fascinating career. I didn't really care if what I was witnessing didn't serve as any sort of informational revelation for me, nor did I care if the script took liberties with his life in order to tell the smoothest and most compelling story. Showing an exact replication of these events is far less important than doing what is necessary to capture the essence of who he was and why we should give a shit. 

Thanks to Boyle, Sorkin, Fassbender, and everyone else involved in the production of this film, along with Steve Jobs himself, I gave a shit for two straight hours. I find so many films like this to be stale and familiar, but when Sorkin pens them I end up devouring every word and wishing I could have seconds. The decision to focus on three separate product launches and what was happening in his life at those times was such a wonderful way to break free of what so often plagues the straightforward, predictable storytelling of a traditional biopic. 

You may think you don't give a shit about another Steve Jobs story, but see it anyways. You may be surprised by how great it is. 

4.5/5