Director: Danny Boyle
By Alex Watson
Although it lacks the needed back story about the rise of one of this centuries greatest innovators, Steve Jobs is still a fine picture by Danny Boyle. Aided by a typical talkative Aaron Sorkin script, events play out like more of a three act play than a cinematic piece. Jobs is not made out as likable by any means but his dedication and ambition to his craft is always admirable. His relationship with those around him however, gives his life a more strained feel.
Examining three very significant events in the life of Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) such as the release of the ill-fated first Apple Macintosh which would lead to his dismissal. Through these moments we witness the fiery determination and the towering ego which although brought him worldwide admiration, also alienated him from those closest to him.
Steve Jobs gives us a breathless opening inning where the clock counts down to the first launch of the Apple Mac in 1984. Jobs is fiercely determined to make his beloved machine speak 'Hello' to its audience. On display in this sequence is a complex array of emotions as Jobs berates, charms and threatens his 'Work Wife' Joanna Hoffman (A terrific Kate Winslet) and engineer Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg). In this sequence we also gain a window into his human side and more importantly, his stubbornness. Jobs refuses to accept that his daughter Lisa is his child even though it has been proven. Her mother Chrisann (Katherine Waterston) cannot fathom the reason for this rejection and Jobs clings to the same algorithm that 28% of population could be the father.
Danny Boyle doesn't set out to make Jobs any kind of Martyr figure and in truth he is both hero and villain combined. Despite warnings from Joanna such as “If you keep on alienating people for no reason, there will be no one left to say ‘Hello!’Jobs' ego makes him pay the greatest price. After he irreparably strains his relationship with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogan) and CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels) due the failure of the Mac and his refusal to acknowledge the success of the Apple II- he is inevitably forced out. Rather painting this as a revenge or redemption piece, Boyle instead focus on the man himself. Through this he lifts the lid and reveals the self-doubt that Jobs feels within himself, perhaps brought on by his adoption as a child.
For all its merits, it does feel disappointing that Steve Jobs only focuses on the early years and not the breakthrough products such as the iPad. We are only briefly given windows into the early life of Jobs which although provided momentary glimpses of a far different man is not nearly enough. Boyle focuses on the technical innovation that made this man an almost god like figure to the people who brought products. Jobs believed that computers should almost be as a friendly as people themselves and his perfectionism that angered colleagues was because he believed something . There are subtle hints towards the future products that would cement the Apple name, such as his preference for all rectangle corners be rounded. In the end, Boyle does a great job of making a difficult persona into something fascinating.
As the man himself, Michael Fassbender proves the perfect jobs as the Apple impresario. Effectively channeling his insecurities with himself along with his sophistry, Fassbender holds the movies centre with such force that eclipses all others. By far one of the best leading men this year, this could be movie another Oscar nod coming right up. Kate Winslet refuses to get upstaged by Fassbender and rings in her own fine turn as the dry humoured Hoffman. In a dowdy and more low key performance, Katherine Waterston wins the most sympathy as Chrisann Brennan, a woman struggling to raise the very daughter that Jobs frequently rejects.
Steve Jobs might not be a movie for everyone to appreciate, but the sheer power of its central performance lights up the picture. David Fincher may have rejected the chance to bring Jobs to the screen, but Danny Boyle has proven to the perfect man to do so.
