Riveting performances in a one-dimensional screenplay

Rating: 7/10 (9 November 2015)

Minutes before the launch of the Macintosh back in 1984, Jobs is agitated by the designer's inability to make the device say Hello. That unwarranted obsession in reality, was his passionate vision that became the legacy of the iCEO. Walter Isaacson captured the essence of the genius entrepreneur's journey from his garage up until his last days after the introduction of the Ipad 2. However, the adaptation by Andy Sorkin restricts our insight into the character and his legacy as it focuses more on his struggles as a reluctant father and as a failed CEO. Danny Boyle ('Slumdog Millionaire', '127 hours') had to extract the best out of Michael Fassbender and the supporting actors to capture our attention in this one- dimensional biography and with some sharp dialogues, they do have a riveting effect.
The first among the three product launches in the film's narrative centers around the Macintosh and more importantly, Jobs' interaction with Chrisann (Katherine Waterston) and their daughter Lisa, whom he refuses to acknowledge as his own. Jobs' nonchalant and unkind mannerism towards his daughter makes complete sense when he is portrayed as a prick with the Apple team. Sorkin unabashedly focuses our attention to this side of Steve Jobs and offers little insight into the reason behind such behaviors. Adopted at an early age after being abandoned by his birth parents, Jobs' acrimony pretty much takes over the entire film's narrative. The first act also portrays his persistence for achieving the details that wouldn't really matter to the end user but they are primal in his vision. Just when Jobs was to appear on stage to unveil the Macintosh to the crowd, the director jumps to highlight the product's dismal sales performance that eventually led to Apple firing its very co-founder. Four years later, Jobs' interaction with Lisa about the perfect cube and her mother's negligent parenting is interrupted by Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), prompting him to prepare for a couple of meetings before he gets on stage to launch the ridiculously overpriced, NeXT Cube. In a heated scene, Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) warns him of the Cube's imminent failure due to its price and market, to which, Jobs pays little heed. Product aesthetics and end-to-end control were at the core of his products while Woz tried to alter his ways to make products successful by making them more changeable. If this argument was heated, then the five minutes with the 'Newsroom' star Jeff Daniels who plays Apple CEO John Sculley, is simply screen-scorching. One man tries to justify why he did what he had to while the other looks for closure from his past failure. His moments with a very concerned Joanna, reveal his broad intentions and astute business mind. The screenplay then jumps to the epic failure of the product that was renowned in the computing industry for years to come. Having been re-hired as then struggling Apple's CEO in 1998, Jobs is about to get on stage to unveil the industry shaking iMac but he must first confront Woz yet again and a grown up Lisa who now shares a much stronger bond with her father. The film closes on the triumphant turning point that would mark new beginnings for Jobs' career as an innovative CEO and for his bond with the daughter he has finally come to acknowledge.
The iMac went on to become hugely successful and it laid the foundation for Apple Computers which then became the hub for industry changing innovations. Sadly, this tip of the iceberg is all that the film showcases about the iconic thinker and his company's successes. Sorkin and Danny Boyle take their creative liberties to not only dramatize the failures of Steve Jobs but also digress from Isaacson's book to lean into the one- dimensional portrayal of the struggling father, failed CEO and ungrateful friend. Such deviations and liberties are acceptable in biopics that don't have two hours of exciting material but ending the story about Steve Jobs back in 1998, just when the world started recognizing his true genius, is risky and honestly unfulfilling. Steve Jobs may have been a prick with his social skills but his intention was only to pursue the unthinkable and achieve the extraordinary with his team. Only the thick skinned folk around him survived his lashing and they turned out to be the successors of his legacy of crowd pleasing innovation.
Michael Fassbender is genuinely, the film's stronghold. His performance is fierce in its sincerity to the portrayal, his understanding of Steve Jobs' passion behind innovating is depicted with the persistence that comes from a mature actor. He is quite straightforward being acrimonious and he makes it look totally normal. This should, at the very least, earn Fassbender a nomination for the best actor. Jeff Daniels comes to his best in the heated confrontation with Fassbender and the scene just electrifies with intensity. Seth Rogen is mostly himself but his disbelief of Jobs' stubbornness is what he plays all along while being supportive to his friend. Michael Stuhlbarg as Andy Hartzfeld portrays the recipient of Steve Jobs' lashing that result from his obsessive innovation standards. Kate Winslet balances the tension, frustration and precarious nature of her CEO but being bold enough to challenge him especially when it concerns his daughter Lisa. As Hoffman, she stands out as a tough woman in business and more so by her well maintained composure.
Danny Boyle's captivating direction includes a variety of filters, lighting and close ups. Andy Sorkin's screenplay shows us his perspective of Steve Jobs which isn't completely fulfilling for those who would've preferred a complete insight into the character. However, the film is a riveting watch because of the powerhouse of performances especially from Michael Fassbender. This may not be the last film about the world's most talked about tech innovator and CEO and it very well shouldn't be.

7.681 on a scale of 1-10.