Incredible Personality Treatise Of A Complex Individual

Rating: 10/10 (27 February 2017)

A number of years ago, I watched "The Social Network" and was completely transfixed. I loved how that movie was able to tell a specific story (the origins of Facebook) and also serve as an excellent character study. When I heard that the same screenwriter (Aaron Sorkin) that did "Social Network" was on this project, I was obviously intrigued. The result is a movie just as good at examining real life events through the prism of drama and time (or hindsight). Perhaps even better, in certain ways, as it had less historical material to focus on and thus was truly about the man at its center.
For a basic plot summary, "Steve Jobs" tells the story of its title character (played by Michale Fassbender) through three different product launches at three distinct times in his life. In each instance, Jobs verbally spars with personal assistant Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet) and must deal with a family situation involving a child who he doesn't want to accept is his (Makenzie Moss, Ripley Sobo, & Perla Haney-Jardine) and an estranged wife (Katherine Waterston) who wants little to do with him but is sure glad to accept his bank deposits. Also explored are Jobs' relationships with fellow tech gurus such as Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogan), John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), and Andy Hertzfield (Michael Stuhlbarg).
As we all know, the real-life Steve Jobs was a very complicated, unique, and even polarizing figure (the guy once got kicked out of his own company, for crying out loud!). There is no doubt that he was quite a revolutionary thinker...yet pretty much everyone who worked for the man intimates that he was a class-A jerk with a slave-driver mentality. That is the main focus of this film, and it provides some of the movie's best moments. The film-makers really tackle the question of "did Jobs have to be such a jerk in order to do what he did?". That is fascinating discussion topic, and one that Sorkin and director Danny Boyle cut to the heart of with "Steve Jobs".
This is very much a "talking film", so if you are looking for a lot of action, you might have to temper expectations. To be honest, this is almost a completely dialogue-driven film. Fortunately, Sorkin has mastered the art of dialogue and uses it to full advantage here. There isn't a wasted scene, with every conversation a chance to dig a little deeper into the heart of Jobs the business man, Jobs the family man, and Jobs the individual. Though difficult to do right (as dialogue- heavy films can be disasters if not handled with a sense of energy), I'm a huge fan of this style of film-making. I know that "show, not tell" is usually the mantra of Hollywood, but when dealing with personalities I think that can be deviated from a bit.
To pull off all that dialogue, there needs to be great actors up on the screen, and "Steve Jobs" has that all-around. Fassbender is entrancing as Jobs, while the entire supporting cast is also excellent. Especially on-point is Rogen as Wozniak. His scenes with Fassbender are probably the best of the entire film, cutting to the heart of who Jobs was as an individual.
This movie opened to bad press and made little money (at least initially), and I think I know why: you can't go in expecting a cradle-to-grave biography. That's not what this movie sets out to do. It is a character study, plain and simple, just like "The Social Network" was really as much a character study of Mark Zuckerberg as it was a "movie about Facebook". "Steve Jobs" leans even more in that direction, as there is no "one specific event" that it can lean on. Instead, each behind-the-scenes of the product launch is intended to give glimpses into how Jobs handles different portions of his life in order to get to know him better. Obviously, some of the key details are filled in through monologues and flashbacks, but this is by now means anywhere near a comprehensive biography. That wasn't the point.
Overall, I consider "Steve Jobs" to be one of the most thought-provoking films I've seen at the cinema in quite some time. It can play to the nostalgia of Apple users, tech nostalgia in general, and tell a complex personality tale about one of the great technology icons of all-time. The themes espoused in the film will be kicking around in your noggin long after the lights cycle up and the credits roll.