''Musicians play their instruments, I play the orchestra''

Rating: 9/10 (11 December 2015)

This is a rare movie that has an unlikable character and an unorthodox structured plot where nothing really happens, but you just can't keep your eyes of the screen. Steve Jobs has an all-star cast, Danny Boyle as director in one of his best films and has Aaron Sorkin with one of his best writing. This is certainly one of this years' best movies.
The movie is about Steve Jobs and his crew and family behind the scenes of 3 major product launches, which will alter the course of Steve Jobs' career. Personally and professionally. On a professional level he interacts with people like his ''work wife'' Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), former Apple CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels) and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen). The family business behind the scenes are between him and his daughter (Makenzie Moss, Ripley Sobo, Perla Haney-Jardine) and her mother (Katherine Waterston). The movie is told in three segments and each segment contains the release of another product: The Macintosh computer in 1984, the NeXT computer in 1988 and the iMac in 1998.
Can a great man be a good man? Steve Jobs is a movie which has a strong focused direction towards this question without really giving the answer. Steve Jobs is portrayed as narcissistic, stubborn and careless but also stoic, focused and passionate. He doesn't care about how much a person makes (in fact he doesn't care about almost anything or anyone really), but what the person makes. The film studies such a complex character in a 2 hour film while keeping it entertaining with sophisticated, top notch craftsmanship.
Writing unlikable characters in hectic moments of their lives is something Aaron Sorkin excels at. We have seen that he can pull it off in films like The Social Network and Moneyball and in the HBO series The Newsroom. His dialogue is unrealistically fast, witty, smart, and playful but also very satisfying to observe given the right timing and pacing. The writing in this film is typical Sorkin: it gives a lot of insight into the characters while keeping the audience informed about the events that are happening surrounding the characters in a fast pace, without being convoluted or too serious (yes, the laughing muscle will be triggered).
The star is this movie is undoubtedly Michael Fassbender, who gives the character many layers. Reckless and careless when it comes to work ethics but progressively emotional and caring when it comes to family matters. Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels and Seth Rogen add value by being challenging for Michael Fassbender in a dialogue. They are the ones that make Steve Jobs, as a character, stronger and they are the ones that complete this ensemble piece.
Everything the characters say add something to their character or to the story. Some elements however, are forced. Elements that could've had more impact if it was explained earlier or were explained at all. There are characters that are cramped in the story just for character-motivation and exposition purposes. This could've worked if the film was longer or if there was given more attention to that particular element in the story.
All in all, Steve Jobs is a great film with a killer script, world class acting and an interesting perspective on Steve Jobs as a character. Portraying him as a mastermind and a caring father but also as a first class douchebag and a flawed character who is, as he says himself, poorly made. Fortunately, what isn't poorly made is this film. It is one of the best films of this year and it will generate attention come awards season.