An Almost Perfect
Movie About an Imperfect Man
Submitted by Jim Smith
Steve Jobs is one of
the people on my all-time heroes list.
It’s not because of Apple products.
Ironically, I am writing this review on a Microsoft Surface RT ™. No, he is on my all-time heroes list because
of his vision. Other people looked
around and saw the world as it was.
Steve Jobs looked around and saw the world as it could be. He believed that
if people were willing to work hard enough, they could, through the sheer force
of human will, bend the universe to their vision of it. What has Steve Jobs’ vision brought to
us? The iPod, iPhone and iPad are global
leaders in consumer electronics sales (I have all three).
Thus, we are brought to this day, not even two years since
his passing, the first biography of Steve Jobs has made its way to the big
screen. This movie, written by Matt
Whiteley and directed by Joshua Michael Stern had a very modest budget at $8.5
million, and recouped almost that entire amount on its opening weekend.
The movie opens with a scene from 2001 where a very thin
Steve Jobs is at an Apple Open House meeting for Apple staff. In this meeting, he is announcing internally
for the first time, the iPod. The movie
then flashes back to Reed College in the 70’s, when Jobs had dropped out of
college. It followed his life through
his time at Atari (Jobs and Steve Wozniak designed the classic paddle game
Breakout), the founding of Apple, Jobs’ ouster from Apple, and his return. Now that you have the basics, let’s dive in
to the good, the bad and the ugly.
THE GOOD
Ashton Kutcher makes a passable Steve Jobs, but I didn’t
think he captured the character. Steve
Jobs was notorious for being a hothead, and while we are treated to glimpses of
this side of his character, it seems to be downplayed significantly. The film makers had access to the actual
locales where many of the events transpired, so the scenery was flawless. Whiteley’s script doesn’t attempt to paint
Jobs as an angel, though it just chooses not to focus on the negative aspect of
Jobs’ character. However, given that it
was such a big part of his character, it probably should have been dealt with
in greater detail.
THE BAD
In general, I would have to say that there was no bad in
this movie. A biography would normally
be a snooze-fest for me, but the movie moves along and doesn’t get bogged down,
keeping your interest.
THE UGLY
Steve Gad as Woz. ‘Nuff said.
In the end, it was a
great first tribute to Steve Jobs. Sony
has the options to make a film based on the Walter Issacson biography of Steve
Jobs, and I am looking forward to that vision of the man who created the modern
world. If you fancy a different look at
Jobs, TNT created a made for television movie about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates
called Pirates of Silicon Valley
which I highly recommend. Rotten
tomatoes gives Jobs a 25% fresh rating, but I think it is far better than they
give it credit for.
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