Riveting storytelling and performances

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2019)

Simplistically, a biopic is telling the story of the protagonist. But the accent can be either on the "story" or on the "telling". The former could end up being quite bland. The latter is a challenge, to showcase the moviemakers' virtuosity in storytelling. This is something that "Steve Jobs" accomplishes.
The protagonist is likely a celebrity, to one degree or another. When it is Steve Jobs, nothing more needs to be said. What is crucial is the actor who portrays the celebrity. People who would look first towards physical resemblance miss the most important thing: acting ability. A good example is Frank Langella playing Richard Nixon in "Frost/Nixon" (2008). There is little physical resemblance and yet Langella on the screen becomes Nixon, by the sheer force of superb acting. The same can be said about Michael Fassbender playing Steve Jobs.
The movie is in 3 acts, and the mise-en-scene often conveys the impression of a stage play. The 3 acts are set respectively in 1984, 1988 and 1998, anchoring on the launching of three products, the Macintosh, the NeXT and the iMac, in that order. You will note that none of the Apple products that have today become part of our daily life had yet been developed then. However, at least one is alluded to in the movie, near the end. I'll come back to that.
As mentioned, this is a "telling" sort of biopic. One way to discuss it is in terms of Jobs's relationship with people who have an important role in his life: Joanne Hoffman (Kate Winslet), Lisa Brennan (3 young actresses at age 5, 9 and 19), John Scully (Jeff Daniels), Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen). But first, how Jobs sees himself is reflected in a few interesting quotes. "Like Caesar, I'm surrounded by enemies" he says. He has a deep suspicion for people: "the very nature of people is something to overcome". And he is an A-hole of an egotist. Using a musical analogy, he asserts "Musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra".
The most important of the four people I mentioned, in terms of this movie and the acting, is Joanne Hoffman. Fassbender and Winslet got Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively. In one scene Joanna intimates to Jobs that she has won, 3 years in a row, an award created among peers: best employee standing up against Jobs. She refers to herself as his "work wife". In the beginning of the final act, when things are going well and they are in a jovial mood, he asks "Why haven't we slept together?" "We are not in love" she replies without batting an eyelash. As his public relations advisor, she is all but indispensable. However, their relationship does not pertain only to work, but embodies a love that transcends romantic love. The best example is at the start of this scene 3, when the business side of things are going well. Here is a Joanne that is the most furious we have yet seen, demanding that Jobs amend his relationship with daughter Lisa, "or I'll quit". With heart-breaking earnest, she tells him "When you are a father, that's the best part of you". Winslet won Golden Globe and BAFTA, and should have been awarded an Oscar.
This movie puts a great deal of emphasis on the relationship between Jobs and Lisa, a daughter he refuses to acknowledge. Through the three acts, Lisa at 5, 9 and 19 are played by three distinguished young actresses providing such uncanny consistency that for a second, you suspect that like in the movie "Boyhood", the role is played by the same person, shot through a timespan of over a decade! I will not go into details. Suffices to say that Jobs gets somewhat reprieved at the very end, in the most heartwarming moment this movie offers when he and Lisa exchange gazes between stage front and backstage at the side. Oh yes, referring to the "future" Apple product mentioned earlier, the last words (for the movie) Jobs says to Lisa is triggered by her listening to a Walkman. He promises his daughter "I'll put 1000 song in your pocket" referring to, of course, the iPod, a brain-child at the moment.
The most dramatic and captivating scenes are with Scully, placed in Act 2. It is a series of rapid cuttings back-and-forth between the time frames of Act 1 and Act 2, depicting the evolvement of the relationship between these two men. They also sharply focus on Jobs getting fired, and his subsequent revenge by banishing Scully, both from Apple. Another heart-warming scene is seeing the two of them, somewhat mellowed, reconciling in Act 3.
The one person closest to Jobs would have to be the other Steve, Wozniak, or "Woz", who started out with Jobs in a garage as the pair embarking on a journey to change the world. But the saddest thing, at least according to this movie, is their deteriorating relationship. One recurring motif in all three Acts is Woz asking Jobs to acknowledge the Apple II Team to the audience, which is flatly refused, again and again. In the final confrontation, in exasperation, Woz askes "Why do you want people to dislike you?" Jobs claims that he is indifferent. Then comes the final revelation: deep down, they never had respect for each other. Woz's parting words make an immortal quote "You can be decent and gifted at the same time. It's not binary". (I have taken the liberty to reverse the order of the sentences for better effect).