Simply Masterful

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2015)

Is Steve Jobs the movie of the year? Obviously. Clearly. The first 30 minutes of the film itself is so well constructed from the writing, directing, performances, pacing, soundtrack, and editing that you are witnessing masters do what they do best. With the names of Boyle, Sorkin, Fassbender, and Winslet, would anyone expect less? No, I'm not saying these things because I love Apple products or I think Steve Jobs himself was a genius, a visionary. It's just the simple fact that the film is masterful in nearly every way. It puts to shame almost every film released this year and the previous ten years. It's that good.
Running at about two hours, the film feels like one, which is impressive considering it's essentially a bunch of scenes of people talking to each other. The film rarely feels slow and remains compelling to the very end, moving at an incredibly brisk pace. Not even The Social Network could pull that off. Then again, Steve Jobs is an entirely different beast, with the only similarities being their Sorkin-ess scripts. Everything else is unalike because Danny Boyle is a completely different director from David Fincher. Yeah, it would have been cool to see a Social Network reunion, but it's just as great to witness Boyle's distinct style overtake the screenplay. Again, these are masters who know their craft.
The performances are top notch, but of course they are. Michael Fassbender is a chameleon, transforming into the titular role of Steve Jobs. Sure, he doesn't look like Jobs but does it even matter when he's this good? Kate Winslet is alongside Fassbender through most of the film, and while her European accent comes in and out for a few scenes, she's fantastic. Other supporting roles range from good to great, including Michael Stuhlbarg and even Seth Rogen, but it is Perla Haney-Jardine who stands out as Jobs' daughter. She's in a small but nevertheless important section of the film and becomes instantly memorable in her limited screen time.
The success of the film isn't that it's about Jobs himself or the products that he made. In fact, Sorkin cleverly ditches the cradle to the grave biopic we've seen too many times and instead, focuses on Jobs' relationship with his daughter. It's an affecting storyline, tapping into the universal themes of family, love, wanting to be loved or, at the very least, acknowledged. It's the beating heart of Steve Jobs, the thing that keeps the film alive, and don't be surprised when you're crying by the end because you will. That, perhaps, might be the most surprising aspect of the film of all.