A Glimpse Into An Enigmatic Visionary

Rating: 8/10 (29 October 2015)

Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle's (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) follow up that looks into the late, iconic Apple co-founder's struggles onstage and offstage was certainly a difficult one to comprehend. The moment the first scene began, I was filled with curiosity on what exactly was Jobs' problem when balancing both his prodigious work and personal life simultaneously.
The plot centers around Jobs' introduction of the Apple I computer back in 1984 to the debut of the iMac in 1998. But during that era - in spite of his vision of allowing the public to experience computer usage in a different way - his personal troubles behind-the-scenes involving family made him a complicated man with his several imperfections.
I'm aware of the 2013 take that starred Ashton Kutcher, but comparing that movie to this one, I'd say this version glimpses into the more darker, complex personality that is Steve Jobs rather than inconclusive facts and juvenile scriptwriting. Michael Fassbender's portrayal is physically uncanny as the leading man. Whereas his costar Seth Rogen as fellow co-founder and friend Steve Wozniak seems to have grasped his inner dramatic side (quite a shift from his comedic work) by showing how much Wozniak went through to help make his and Jobs' vision a reality. Although the film is all about Steve Jobs and his varying tribulations to success, I'd say the real hero is his daughter Lisa. She's basically his rock. As years progressed and she had gotten older, Lisa knew deep down that even if he repeatedly denied in public that she is not his daughter (when a DNA test said otherwise), he cares about her even when he doesn't openly show it. I'm sure award nominations will certainly not be ruled out based on these actors' performance.
The movie does tend to slow down in some parts revolving around Jobs' ousting from Apple and eventual reinstated status. With the help of "Social Network" screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, both he and Danny Boyle's combined efforts into creating a movie that displays a near-spiteful, yet astute glimpse into how much Jobs sacrificed and changed the outlook of many computer users. Whether you're an Apple follower or not, this isn't a movie that overglorifies Jobs as a profound intellectual that can do no wrong and overshadows all his rivals easy. No. Instead he is more of an enigmatic visionary with a complicated, yet conscientious life whose legacy reverberates in the company millions around the world have come to know. All great visionaries struggled to get where they needed to be and Steve Jobs is no exception.