Steve Jobs--Directed by Danny Boyle/ Starring Michael Fassbender,
Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels/written by Aaron Sorkin/121 min/rated R
Bifocal Reviews by Ageless1der Barbara Rich & The Other Guy
(BR):
Technology is not my first choice for movie material. In spite of that, I was
thoroughly drawn into this film because of the performances that expressed how
important a human characteristic it is to have creative vision. For, as a story
or as a biography, what we learn from Steve Jobs is it really wasn’t so much
about the technology that made him a legend…It was that he took his
visions—which were all about making products that people both needed and wanted--and made them realities.
Fassbender’s performance was compelling. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him and
he was in almost every scene. All the other performances also complemented
Fassbender’s. Kate Winslet was almost unrecognizable in the early part of the
film, but her acting ability was unmistakable…as were all the costars. They
were so good, in fact, that they actually enhanced Fassbender’s otherwise
flawless performance. I’m hoping more people will see this movie, in spite of
the fact that an earlier film about Steve Jobs is being confused with this
release. This is a must see film, I believe, even though I too was not certain
this film would be to my liking. I’m so glad I could enjoy this film without
having to deal with floppy disks, bits, bytes or other jargon. I give Steve Jobs four and a half binoculars
out of five.
(OG):
Initially, I wasn’t sure why I loved this movie so much. First of all, the
script violates the basic belief that “movies should move.” Not that much really happens, as most of the “action”
takes place backstage at various product launches. That is the genius, perhaps,
of the Aaron Sorkin style of writing (A Few Good Men, West Wing, Newsroom for
example). His dialogue is so compelling and the emotional energy so high
(thanks to the great delivery of the actors) that while there are no car
crashes, explosions or fist-fights, the action never seems to stop. Fassbender
was absolutely PERFECT in his portrayal of Steve Jobs. If he ends up doing a one-man
stage performance for the rest of his life (such as with Hal Holbrook’s Mark
Twain) audiences will likely have the same response. They will at some point
start to identify the actor with the character he’s portraying. It was that
good. I had some personal experience with the original Mac, when I was commissioned
by Apple Corporation, in the early 80s to write a book “in the spirit of the
new computer” which explained the new world of communications and especially
word processing. That book, called Vision-Revision (www.vision-revision.pbwiki.com)
has become a free, online education website which now is expanded to include
many new tools (videos and other website links) which were not even available
when the Mac was first conceived. So, what I guess I’m trying to say is, I may
have been influenced by a nostalgic association to the subject matter…but the
movie is genius, just like the subject matter. I’m giving this one a five.
