A solid portrayal of Steve Jobs

Rating: 7/10 (5 February 2016)

From the amazing director Danny Boyle and writer Aaron Sorkin who wrote 'The Social Network', comes a biopic based on Walter Isaacson's biographical novel of the late founder of Apple, one of the largest running business's in the world. This marks the second attempt to bring the story of the titular character, with the first being the 2013 film 'Jobs' starring Ashton Kutcher. Told in a three- act structure, this film stars Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs and follows the early years of his work that brought birth to a new age of digital technology, from the iconic launch of the 1984 Macintosh, to the launch of the 1986 NeXT computer (now defunct), to the release of the 1998 iMac computer. While this man was responsible to creating some of the biggest technological products in the world, his passion for this work lead to troubling relationships with his daughter Lisa who he denied paternity to, his best friend and co- founder Steve Wozniak (played by Seth Rogen), as well as his colleagues . Kate Winslet takes on the role as marketing executive Joanna Hoffman, and Jeff Daniels plays John Sculley who took over Apple as CEO after Jobs' outing.
Danny Boyle and writer Aaron Sorkin give this film the most effective portrayal of Apple's late founder yet. Michael Fassbender gives such a vibrant performance as the titular character and soars so natural in his role, despite showing modest resemblance of Jobs in appearance, and his performance efficiently captured the callousness of Jobs' personality. What comes to more surprise is the portrayal of co- founder Steve Wozniak who shines with a striking performance by Seth Rogen who breaks his comedic typecasting. And let's not forget the charismatic presence of Kate Winslet who remains fresh as ever. Unlike the previous Steve Jobs biopic from 2013, this one takes a more artistic fashion of portraying the story backstage of Jobs' career with Apple and the now defunct company NeXT with pure energy. As the story focuses more on his personal relationships with his family and colleagues than the inside look at his work, which does detract the film of some the biographical touch, the story is told in a very dramatized manner. Every scene consisting of plenty of talking feels so fast paced, especially as these scenes are filmed in real-time. The conversation between the characters are quite gripping and never feel dull, though those expecting a more fact-based storytelling may be slightly disappointed. The most inspiring aspect of these however, is how the cinematography, with each act of the film shot in various formats to present a visual reflection of the time period in which each takes place.
Steve Jobs is solid piece of entertainment by Danny Boyle and probably the most effective and powerful portrayal of the late Steve Jobs ever put to screen. This is a very entertaining film with mesmerizing performances from a talented cast; a great, though flawed direction, and a sharp screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. It is just a shame that this film suffered miserably at the box office, this film deserves more attention than what it has received so far.