Steve Jobs (2015)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

[Ezen Baklattan]

I liked it, but didn't love it.

 

Sorkin's script is the main star here - the thing that works better than anything else here is his rapid fire dialogue; it feels totally natural and entertaining in this world. Unfortunately, while the dialogue itself is stellar, the structure doesn't quite work - we're stuck with a lot of redundant plot developments that just drag the film frustratingly along. As a result, a lot of the significant beats feel more contrived, and the film's overall structure really doesn't offer that much. It would have worked better, IMO, if it had just been one of those launches. I admire what they were going for, but it didn't really work for me. The stuff with Jobs' daughter also feels tacked on as hell, and they completely ruin the last 10 minutes of the movie. (Fincher would have shook his head repeatedly)

 

Everything else is decently well done, aside from a few jarring choices made by Danny Boyle.The performances are good, but Fassbender didn't really blow me away - maybe cause he's done so much great work that it really isn't surprising anymore. So I guess it's good, but I'm startled by all the crazy Oscar buzz right now, even after people saw it.

 

B/B-

[RichWS]

The last 5 minutes keep nagging me. I have no idea what they were thinking. That shitty rock song? It's been a long time since an ending soured me on what was, up to that point, a very good film.

[Gopher]

I chose to think (though I could be wrong) the ending is meant to feel very ambivalent. The daughter doesn't know whether her dad is coming towards her or just walking up and down the stage. I could be wrong but that would've felt like the conceit of the movie to me in a nutshell.

 

I like this a ton. I think Fincher's smoothness wouldn't have worked here--Boyle wrestles with this script, everything feels at odds with itself, which is what a Jobs story calls for. Love the structure and the performances. Don't love the flashbacks or some of Boyle's usual bullshit quirks (rocket on the side of a wall). 

Edited October 17, 2015 by Gopher

[TStechnij]

My full review: http://bit.ly/1VWIve6

Overall, mixed as hell. Thought Boyle rose to the occasion and loved it as a technical accomplishment. Honestly, I thought Sorkin was a weak link.

The end blows lol.

[antovolk]

Wonderful wonderful wonderful. Energetic as hell, bravo is all I can say really. I can def understand people's issues with Act 3 but I don't mind that shift as much to be honest. Jobs v Sculley in Act 2 was best film moment of the year for me.

Fassy was incredible, Winslet was really awesome, both deserve noms, maybe even a win for Fassy. Best screenplay has to go to Sorkin, and Boyle for direction as well I hope.

9/10 currently joint #2 of the year with Ex Machina.

[Ezen Baklattan]

I chose to think (though I could be wrong) the ending is meant to feel very ambivalent. The daughter doesn't know whether her dad is coming towards her or just walking up and down the stage. I could be wrong but that would've felt like the conceit of the movie to me in a nutshell.

I like this a ton. I think Fincher's smoothness wouldn't have worked here--Boyle wrestles with this script, everything feels at odds with itself, which is what a Jobs story calls for. Love the structure and the performances. Don't love the flashbacks or some of Boyle's usual bullshit quirks (rocket on the side of a wall).

Interesting interpretation, but I don't think I see it that way. The relationship between Jobs and his daughter feels too much like it's intentional throughout, especially with the design Lisa made in the opening, and I think the film only entertains the possibility of his cynical exploitation of Jobs' daughter, the one element of empathy that Jobs may still have. I think ambiguity works, but in the case of the film it veers somewhat close to being less of intentional ambiguity than the film being unsure of what it wants to say.

That said, I think it's more of a B/B+ then a B/B-.

[Blankments]

Found it to be decent fun. It's nothing profound but it's Sorkin doing what he does best, with some of the best actors working today. It feels like a symphony of dialogue, and it's hard not to enjoy the movie when you're watching it. That said, I don't see a lot of it sticking with me for a while; the only exemplary parts being elevated by Boyle's direction. Fassbender and Daniels are both great though, and I never recognized Kate Winslet. Definitely worth your time. A

[Webslinger]

It's difficult to encapsulate the essence of Steve Jobs's life in a two-hour space (as evidenced by the tepid response to the 2013 biopic and the gargantuan length of the biography upon which this film is based), but Steve Jobs accomplishes the task. While the unconventional three-act approach restricts the vast majority of the narrative to three very specific moments in Jobs's life, the selection of details and the presentation of said details are such that we get a clear and vivid outline of the man's complexities in each snapshot. Even though the film is comprised largely of dialogue, it is an absolutely electrifying experience thanks to three factors: the screenwriting, the acting, and the direction. Although the script does not represent Aaron Sorkin's finest cinematic work (a title that I would still award to The Social Network), it's a more-than-sufficiently-close second. The dialogue is razor-sharp, and while it's not always subtle, it has plenty of bite and never feels even remotely as on-the-nose as Sorkin's disappointing work on The Newsroom. Given the stagey nature of Sorkin's script, it's no wonder that the acting is also excellent across the board. In the title role, Michael Fassbender does some of the best work of an incredibly-promising career thus far. He disappears into the role and embodies both the hubris and vulnerability of Jobs without missing a beat. Fassbender's work is a natural and committed wonder that rivals his revelatory work in Shame and demands the viewer's attention and admiration every step of the way. Kate Winslet is also great as Joanna Hoffman, Jobs's assistant. Winslet is fiery enough to match up with Fassbender is virtually every scene that they share (if not surpass him in several of those scenes), and she brings subtle-but-effective touches of warmth to her interactions with Jobs's daughter that gracefully foreshadow her most Oscar-friendly clip in the third act. After a disappointing post-Oscar resume, Winslet's work here resonates so strongly that it will undoubtedly remind many a viewer of why she was so revered in the years leading up to her Best Actress win for The Reader. Michael Stuhlbarg is also fantastic in what is unfortunately likely to be an overlooked performance as an oft-criticized underling who assumes magnified importance near the end of the film. Stuhlbarg is quietly heartbreaking as a worker whose dedication to Jobs's personal affairs ultimately extends much further than a viewer may initially assume. Katherine Waterston also makes the very most of limited screen time with a performance that is at least as impressive (and doomed to be just as underrated) as her work on Inherent Vice; it's never entirely clear how much of the truth we see from Jobs's jilted lover, but she packs a wallop in each of her scenes. The three actresses who play Jobs's daughter are also uniformly effective in forming the film's emotional backbone; even though Jobs remains reluctant to acknowledge his responsibilities as a father through most of the running time, the connections that each of these young actresses shares with Fassbender allow the film to earn its surprisingly sentimental ending. As easy as it would be to credit the script and the pedigree of the cast, Danny Boyle also shines behind the camera. While the film is not as kinetic as other films in Boyle's oeuvre, he still makes it feel more visually dynamic than one would expect from such a stagey film, and he achieves a level of play-like cinematic intimacy akin to last year's Birdman. All told, Steve Jobs is anything but a conventional biopic, but the approach taken here is one that gives the film a singular feel that meshes perfectly with its creator's insistence on innovation and unconventional thinking. Thus, as befits a film about a man whose unconventional approach finally led to unexpected-but-resounding success, it's a knockout.

A

[Water Bottle]

Ultimately a great film. Danny Boyle does a good job and this is the most Sorkin script Sorkin has probably ever written. Great performances as well. I like how the unique structure allowed it to cover a lot of ground (which is a problem many biographies in film run into if they try to cover too much territory) while at the same time remaining focused.

 

A-

[TStechnij]

I have a huge problem with Sorkin because of this film. It makes me question all of his past work because of how self indulgent and... 

 

I dont know. The screenplay of this film is a total mess. Sorkin is basically writing strings of words that sound nice, but don't mean anything. It's bullshit and he has fooled me for years, but now I know. 

[Plain Old Tele]

It's a very stylized and artificial movie. I'm not sure why you automatically consider that a negative. 

[TStechnij]

It's a very stylized and artificial movie. I'm not sure why you automatically consider that a negative. 

Is this in reference to me? If you read the review I posted above I actually really adored the film for its style and innovation. The only thing I don't like is the screenplay. And it being artificial is not my problem. 

It is very organized and well done though. Also quite innovative. I love the cuts between the acts 

Edited October 25, 2015 by TStechnij

[4815162342]

I think people are really overinflating the final 5+ minutes of the film. Yes it is a bit more sentimental than the rest of the film, but it is a payoff that is consistently and continually built up through each act of the movie, so it doesn't come out of nowhere.

[Water Bottle]

I think people are really overinflating the final 5+ minutes of the film. Yes it is a bit more sentimental than the rest of the film, but it is a payoff that is consistently and continually built up through each act of the movie, so it doesn't come out of nowhere.

I thought it worked very well and without it, the movie loses it's emotional meaning.

 

I have a huge problem with Sorkin because of this film. It makes me question all of his past work because of how self indulgent and... 

 

I dont know. The screenplay of this film is a total mess. Sorkin is basically writing strings of words that sound nice, but don't mean anything. It's bullshit and he has fooled me for years, but now I know. 

The screenplay is great-I'd say it's better than the Social Network. It's very much structured like a play but the dialogue is very good as well. I read your review by the way and I disagree that the characters weren't actually saying anything. They were saying something, it just wasn't always obvious. As to the circular notion of the dialogue, it's actually pretty good because it's when you see the shifts and changes within the circular dialogue that some of the best moments of the screenplay come out.

For instance, the Apple II exchange in Act I is similar to the Apple II exchange in Act III and is really exemplary of Woz's character but it also shows us a lot about who Jobs is not only in those two moments of his life but throughout his life as well. It doesn't always spoonfeed you the information, so I guess in that way your complaint can be right.

I think my favorite part of the Woz-Jobs relationship wasn't when Jobs insisted he would always protect Woz (which by the way goes into play as to how he never respected him or saw him as an equal) but the whole watch scene. Jobs really did see himself as a paternal figure to Woz but at the same time withheld the key part of paternal love: approval. And yet even though Woz sought it out throughout the movie, even lashing out against his father figure, he would bristle because in his eye he was the real genius of Apple. It's a complicated relationship that the screenplay sets up through it's circular, "self-indulgent" dialogue.

[Plain Old Tele]

Is this in reference to me? If you read the review I posted above I actually really adored the film for its style and innovation. The only thing I don't like is the screenplay. ...

It is very organized and well done though. Also quite innovative. I love the cuts between the acts 

See, this doesn't make any sense to me. A script is a huge part of the film...any film. This is particularly true when you have someone like Sorkin who has producer-power and hardly gets pushed to the sidelines when the movie goes into production. If you liked the movie and thought it was innovative, Sorkin deserves a healthy chunk of those accolades along with Boyle. 

Edited October 25, 2015 by Telemachos

[Ethan Hunt]

B+

[Jake Gittes]

Enjoyed the first third but everything after it got weaker and weaker, except maybe for the big Jobs vs Woz scene in the climax. It comes across like three shortened full-length biopics in one, or three episodes of a TV drama taken from season 1, season 4 and season 7 and stitched together using callbacks. The Jobs vs Sculley in Act 2 is such a loud and furious argument and all I could think of was "why am I supposed to give a shit again?". Katherine Waterston's two big scenes are essentially the same. The revelation of Jobs' father just comes and goes with zero build-up. And yeah, the ending is just bad.

[Ezen Baklattan]

On 1/1/2016 at 11:40 AM, Jake Gittes said:

Enjoyed the first third but everything after it got weaker and weaker, except maybe for the big Jobs vs Woz scene in the climax. It comes across like three shortened full-length biopics in one, or three episodes of a TV drama taken from season 1, season 4 and season 7 and stitched together using callbacks. The Jobs vs Sculley in Act 2 is such a loud and furious argument and all I could think of was "why am I supposed to give a shit again?". Katherine Waterston's two big scenes are essentially the same. The revelation of Jobs' father just comes and goes with zero build-up. And yeah, the ending is just bad.

 

Pretty much my thoughts, too.

[Blankments]

This movie grew off me significantly but the second act Jobs vs. Scully scene is still one of my favorite scenes this year. Masterclass in editing, performance, direction, and script in that one scene.