Excellent acting, fantastic writing, clever experiment

Rating: Null/10 (25 October 2015)

Electrifying and riveting. Those are really the two words that encapsulate the film the best. I had heard about a three-act structure but I wasn't aware that it would be what it was. I found it clever and highly engrossing, and lent itself very well to Sorkin's style of writing. I have heard much about how Michael Fassbender's performance isn't the type to win. Yes and no. I think in terms of pure effectiveness, it was an immensely successful, fantastic performance. He really inhabited that character upside down. In terms of showiness? It's not particularly showy, and it's also not some transformation. I can definitely see it not being enough for some people, but what else did people expect? Kate Winslet's role is also not very showy in terms of it being too meaty, but she has a lot of screen time and she injects the film with its heart.
I thought the script was particularly strong, but I felt like some of the directorial choices at times felt a little off. The editing at times would feel disjointed and awkward. It wasn't ever any significant problem, but I do see why some think the script is the star and not Boyle. Luckily for the most part he doesn't inject it with too much flash like he has for the rest of his filmography, and at times when he does it works, but a few times it doesn't. For example, deciding to have that loud, bombastic musical score playing during the climactic Jeff Daniels/Fassbender scene in Act 2 was a mistake. The writing of it was entirely fine for what it was, but the music really made it feel sort of like a parody at times. But I also do see it as the filmmakers showing exactly how dramatic these stakes are for these characters and also making fun of that world a bit, but if so, doesn't really fit.
One problem I did have was that the ending was resolved way too quickly, and it seemed way too convenient. It felt like it wad decided to just not end in a bad note, and to give Jobs his humanity back. I don't think a "happy ending" was needed for this at all, and regardless of how it happened in real life, it just didn't entirely click for me. Any others thoughts?
Overall though, highly satisfying piece of filmmaking, very entertaining, fantastic work from the ensemble and from Sorkin.