“Musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra.”- Steve Jobs
The latest attempt at bringing the remarkable life of the Apple co-founder to the big screen was helmed by Oscar winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), and Steve Jobs is easily the first of the long list of Jobs related films that captured the essence of the mad genius. To try and translate the mind of Jobs to the viewers, Michael Fassbender was brought in, and without a single flaw he did this, a performance more than worthy of an Oscar nomination, if not even the main prize itself according to most experts. As well as Fassbender, there are many other notable supporting performances, Kate Winslet shines as Joanna Hoffman (Marketing Executive for Apple), Seth Rogen takes a slightly more serious turn as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Jeff Daniels, off of his recent dramatic turn in The Martian, portrayed Apple CEO John Sculley wonderfully well.
The fact that whilst this film is generally looking to be a hit critically isn’t a surprise, and the same can be said for it’s below par box office performance. It is certainly a shame that people did not want to see this movie because they had low expectations, but Steve Jobs’s box office takings do not do the film justice. Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay is absolutely wonderful, filled with genius dialogue that allow each and every character to reverberate off of one another, creating a perfectly balanced on-screen chemistry between Jobs and the other characters, notably Winslet’s Hoffman and Rogen’s Wozniak.
The film’s general plot is based around 3 of Jobs’s biggest launches, the 1984 Macintosh launch, the 1988 NeXT Cube and his triumphant comeback, the 1998 iMac launch. Along with obviously the importance of these launches, the film centres around the behind the scenes activities of Jobs before he goes out on stage. Through this interesting way of telling the story, the viewer gets to see Jobs as a man in many different lights. First, as commander-in-chief of his team, galvanising employees to make his dreams work. Secondly, we see Jobs as a man, communicating with people like Hoffman, Wozniak and Sculley as though they were equals, apart from scenes of conflict where Job’s own ego elevates him above others. Finally, we see the evolution of Jobs as a father, from 1984 where he barely acknowledged his own daughter’s existence, to 1998 where he truly makes the connection and triumphantly expresses his unconditional love for her. It was in these behind the scenes moments where Fassbender’s career-defining performance was moulded, projecting all of Jobs’s complex emotions, his ego, his genius to reflect perfectly to the viewer, and as any performance goes, this was of the highest quality.
Although already being supported by a stellar cast and a magnificent script, the look and sound of this movie stood out as a real marvel. The film was wonderful to look at, Alwin W. Küchler showing an example of expert cinematography, the capturing of lighting and the different shots of Jobs working provided real highlights of the film. As well as this, Daniel Pemberton’s score captured everything that happened perfectly, the music simply moulded with the individual scenes plots astoundingly well. As well as a good score, the sound editing also showed scenes of great cinematic quality, such as the stomping of feet, or the echoes of conversation when Hoffman listens to Jobs’s exchanges with Wozniak and Sculley.
Overall, the film’s critical response is more than doing it justice. It is hard to argue with Boyle’s directing, or Sorkin’s screenplay, but the standout factors revolve around Fassbender’s truly Oscar worthy performance, the supporting cast, and the beautiful editing of this film, that make for excellent viewing for any avid cinema goer, as well as the normal viewer, which is why the lack of box office success is a shame. Steve Jobs is truly a triumph and I’m almost certain it will be a big player in this awards season.
Rating: 9/10
Words by Elliott Jones