The Oscars are coming up this Sunday, and fittingly enough, this weekend’s movie has a few nominations under its belt.
It may not be up there for Best Picture, but Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress are still two highly talked about categories. Even if the Oscars are viewed as pretentious by many, one benefit is that it can draw attention to films that didn’t attract a bigger audience when it was initially released.
This movie, based on the deceased Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, had a lot going against it that resulted in the product barely making back its budget. This includes the limited release, the competition at the October box office, and the fact that most of the audiences have moved past Steve Jobs no matter how many productions or documentaries are released about the man.
It’s common knowledge that Jobs was a pioneer for the world of technology. Before this movie was released we’ve had four documentaries and one biographical film since 2011 (granted given how bad the Ashton Kutcher film was, I don’t blame them for giving the biographical approach a second chance). But even with a talented director, writer, and cast, is this worth downloading on an iPad?
Steve Jobs is not a full biographical tale like the Kutcher version was. It’s broken into three acts, all of which take place prior to a launch of a major Apple product from 1984 to 1998.
It focuses on Jobs’ life as a businessman, innovator, and reluctant father, as well as his relationships with the people around him. It brings to attention his arguments with Steve Wozniak, his paternity dispute with Chrisann Brennan over their daughter Lisa, and the pressure when it came to ensuring success of the newer products and how he affected the company.
Jobs shares a number of rants with his marketing executive Joanna Hoffman, showcasing the good and bad of Jobs’ methods and personality.
In terms of biopics, it’s a fresher take on the genre and takes advantage of Jobs’ life and interactions with his peers (which they’ve done research for by actually talking with his colleagues) to paint the picture of an effective, but flawed man.
The problem with some biopics is that they try to showcase their protagonist as having no mistakes and anyone who didn’t like them or disagreed were always the bad guys, making it easy to root for the hero.
It does vary based on the person being portrayed and what’s ignored, but films like Selma show that you can still acknowledge a historical figure’s flaws without damaging their legacy. Granted it was probably easier for these filmmakers because Steve’s harsher behavior was well known to the public before and after his death.
I like the heavier focus on Steve’s relationships as it defines him more than what he created. He can be tough and overly critical, but has a softer spot for certain characters. Combine that with the director of Slumdog Millionaire and the writer of The Social Network and you’ve got a solid production.
Despite having some great talent in the directing and writing department, the actors are what ultimately make the movie.
How Michael Fassbender’s name isn’t box office gold yet eludes me. He’s proven he has solid acting skills, and this is no exception. He’s great at portraying characters who can be soft, but are a ticking time bomb when things don’t go his way, as evidenced by X-Men and 12 Years a Slave.
As much as I love Fassbender, what really sealed the movie for me was Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen.
Winslet helps add a layer in an attempt to make Jobs more relatable, while Rogen’s given some of the best lines in his arguments against Jobs’ decisions. If I had a criticism, I think Rogen could have used more screen time, as I think his confrontations with Jobs put his work as a businessman and innovator to the test.
I actually wouldn’t have minded if the movie was focused more on Rogen and Winslet to get a sense of how Jobs affected his coworkers. Selma didn’t just focus on Martin Luther King, Lincoln didn’t only focus on Lincoln. If they are going with this type of structure and not tell the full story, it could allow some storytelling to expand in other areas.
Steve Jobs has some solid acting, writing, and directing. It’s not anything mindblowing or innovative, but it sets out what it wants to do, show what type of person Steve Jobs was and how he interacted with other people. I don’t see Fassbender winning the Oscar for his performance, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get a kick out of it.
Jobs’ life has been easy to make a production about in the last couple of years not just from his contributions to technology, but because he was a hard man to work with. Granted the story has lost its impact from being told so many times in the last decade, but if this is the last one in a while, it went out on a pretty high note.