Sunday, February 21, 2016

Steve Jobs (2015)

Director: Danny Boyle
Writers:  Aaron Sorkin, Walter Issacson
Cast:       Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels

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 mac. 

It is a film that became a box office failure because of the plethora of Jobs films that came ahead of it. That was a shame because it is the best film out of the lot even though I am making that call without watching the other ones (Who the fuck wants to watch one with Ashton Kutcher anyway?). I am familiar with the story from the film 'Pirates of Silicon Valley' and some documentary that aired on CNBC after his death. There are chiefly two camps when it comes to Steve Jobs- One venerates him like a God while the other think he is an exploitative asshole. The film will satisfy all the other neutrals like me because it treads the middle path and kind of tries to explain the man. That, said the general reaction have been that it is too unkind to him. Some people associated with Jobs have also denounced it. I just think it is safe to assume that there is a quite heavy dose of fiction to it and the makers are quite honest about it. You can safely assume that things won't be this dramatic ahead of all these product launches. What is brilliant about the making that all his characteristics are explained without being too obvious about it. His complicated relationship with his daughter being explained with his own daddy/mummy issues (he was adopted) will sound certainly lame but it isn't so when you watch it. 

Michael Fassbender is my favorite actor from his generation and he continues to amaze. As for recent Danny Boyle films, I tend to enjoy his less successful ones than the hits like Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours. It might just be a breakthrough role for Seth Rogen, who plays Steve Wozniak, and Kate Winslet is excellent as usual. But it is a shame that Kirsten Stewart won't be winning awards in the supporting actress category for her role in 'Clouds of Sils Maria'. 

PS: I think Bill Gates will be bitter about why no one cares about his story. I guess someone should do it as a charity. 

Rating: 4/5

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