Steve Jobs

Watching Steve Jobs, I couldn't help but wonder if screenwriter Aaron Sorkin originally intended this to be a stage play.  Rather than trace the life of the man behind the Apple Corporation, it picks three specific events in his life (all of them built around the launch of a new product), and places them in a perfect Three Act structure.  It features few sets, and is mainly centered around the dialogue Jobs shares with a select few people in his life.

Don't misunderstand me, however.  Even though the movie is fairly small and limited in scope, it is energetic and highly entertaining.  There is a sense of urgency, and we get a sense of the evolution of these characters and their relationship, despite the structure of the film bouncing from one point in time to the next.  At its basic level, the movie wants to depict Steve Jobs (played here by Michael Fassbender) and his various relationships, both professional and personal.  But it goes much deeper than that, and goes into the man himself, depicting him as being an incredibly brilliant yet arrogant man who may not have always had the best interest of others in mind.  He believes himself to be the smartest, if not the best, person in the room at all times, and refuses to back down to anyone.  The fact that there is also a documentary about the man playing in theaters at the same time as this does not lessen the dramatic power of this film at all, as this is not so much a look at his life, as it is a deep and personal look at his mind and how he saw the world.

Each Act in the film is roughly 40 minutes in length, and takes place in an auditorium, right before Jobs is about to make a major product announcement, and the behind the scenes turmoil that happens.  The first Act occurs in 1984, right before he is about to unveil the Macintosh after the infamous Super Bowl ad played to mass audiences only a few days before.  There is a problem with the computer model being used in the presentation (it won't say "hello" to the audience like it's supposed to), and Jobs is relentlessly trying to get employee Andy Herzfeld (Michael Stuhlberg) to get the demo working.  His ex-lover, Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston) is there as well, and has brought her young daughter Lisa along.  She is there to ask for more child support payments, as they are living on welfare, while Jobs' company posts record profits.  Steve still refuses to acknowledge that Lisa is his biological daughter, coming up with obscure ways to disprove the paternity test.  As his long-suffering assistant, Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet) watches helplessly and tries to meet his every demand, no matter how crazy, Steve pretends that he is in control of everything around him.

In Act Two, it is 1988, and Jobs is no longer with Apple.  He is set to unveil his NExT computer, but before the event can take place, he has some private meetings with some of the people from his former company, and old wounds (both personal and professional) are revealed.  His encounters with Apple CEO John Scully (Jeff Daniels) and long-time friend and former partner at Apple, Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) both lets us into the mind of Steve Jobs and how he felt his former employers and friends betrayed him, but also shows off some of the best acting I have seen in a film so far this year.  Although mainly known for comedic work, Rogen is extremely likable and sympathetic here.  He is deeply hurt by Jobs.  He loves the man, but is constantly frustrated by him, especially how he refuses to acknowledge the team who worked on their past computer, the Apple II.  The movie then jumps ahead to 1998 for the final Act.  Jobs is back with Apple, and is about to unleash the iMac, which will mark a turning point for the company.  Before that happens, he will again clash with Wozniak one last time, as well as with his daughter Lisa, who is now 19 and disillusioned with her father.

It is the fragile relationship between Jobs and Lisa that makes up the heart of the film, and carries through the three acts of the film.  We see it in its different stages at the three points the film is set at, and it is fascinating how the performances and the relationship itself flows naturally, despite the large gaps in time the film's narrative takes.  With the movie centering entirely on the relationships, rather than the life of the subject matter, it basically becomes an actor's showcase.  While Michael Fassbender does not hold much of a physical resemblance to the man (personally, Ashton Kutcher pulled off the look better in the 2013 film, Jobs), he manages to get to the intensity of the man.  It is a spellbinding and captivating portrayal, and the performance (combined with the kinetic direction of Danny Boyle) demands our attention for the film's entire running time.  There is already award talk for Fassbender, and it is well deserved.

Steve Jobs is a film built entirely around sharp and witty dialogue, and the acting that carries it.  This is not a "bio film" by any means, as we don't learn much about his life.  It is a fascinating look at his personality, and the relationships he held with the closest people in his life.  Most of all, it makes you struggle with your perception of Jobs, and makes you question who he really was.  The engrossing performances, smart writing and energetic direction all combined to make this one of the standout films of 2015.

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