the man behind the Mac

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2018)

Every techie knows who Steve Jobs was. That is, they know that he founded Apple Inc., revolutionizing computers. But most people probably don't know Steve Jobs the man. Danny Boyle's Academy Award-nominated 2015 movie "Steve Jobs" is based on Walter Isaacson's biography of the Apple founder. Jobs had authorized the bio, but Isaacson's condition was to get the final say (in that he didn't give the most flattering image of Jobs). It got published right after Jobs's death on 2011.
The movie focuses on three major events in Jobs's life: the release of the Macintosh in 1984, the launch of NeXT in 1988, and the unveiling of the iMac in 1998. Accompanying each of these is the issue of Jobs's refusal to provide for an old flame who claims that he's the father of her daughter. In these scenes, he comes across as kind of a nasty person. It was ironic that I watched all this on a MacBook Air.
The movie emphasizes these events and relationships; there's no depiction of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak coming up with the idea for the computer in their garage. I guess that the point is that every icon is bound to have a less-than-venerable side. But seriously, are you gonna get people in this day and age to give up their iPhones just because Steve Jobs wasn't the nicest guy?
It was through watching this movie that I learned about most of the other people who were involved in launching the products. I'd heard of Jobs and Wozniak. Joanna Hoffman, Andy Hertzfeld, John Sculley and Andrea Cunningham were new to me. Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jeff Daniels turned in outstanding performances, as expected. It was surprising to see Seth Rogen in a serious role for a change, since we're used to seeing him play stoners who talk about bodily functions. But he gives it his all here.
In the end, I recommend the movie.