The
last time Aaron Sorkin delivered a story of an enigmatic tech visionary, we got
the masterful “The Social Network,” about Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. Now
the Oscar-winning writer joins director Danny Boyle to take on the life of
innovative Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, played here by an excellent Michael Fassbender. Despite the love that Jobs tends to inspire
(Zuckerberg hardly arouses such passion in the general public), Sorkin
nonetheless arrives at a similar conclusion: geniuses have a tendency to also
be giant assholes.
With “Steve Jobs,” Sorkin takes a
page out of Apple’s playbook and keeps things simple, confining the narrative
to three sequences that take place backstage in the moments before three major
product launches: the Macintosh in 1984, the disastrous NeXT system that
followed Jobs’ split from Apple in 1988, and finally the iMac in 1998. In the lead
up to the events, Jobs interacts with the various crucial figures in his life.
There’s Apple’s long-suffering head of marketing Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet);
Jobs’ friend and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen, great in his first
purely dramatic role); Apple CEO John Sculley (Jeff
Daniels); Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg),
lead designer on the original Mac computer; and Jobs’ former lover, Chrisanne Brennan (Katherine Waterston). Brennan is
accompanied by her young daughter, Lisa (played by actresses Makenzie Moss at
5, Ripley Sobo at 9, and Perla Haney-Jardine at 19),
whom she implores Jobs to accept as his own flesh and blood.
It’s an intriguing way to structure
a biopic, and a welcome divergence from the standard chronological summary that
so many biopics take. But by its nature, it leaves a lot out, providing little
to no introduction to who exactly these people are and assuming the audiences
already have a certain amount of knowledge of Jobs’ life. For those not
well-versed in Apple lore, it might be helpful to watch Alex Gibney’s documentary “Man in the Machine” or to
read Walter Isaacson’s biography (which serves as the basis for Sorkin’s
screenplay) as a primer to fill in the blanks. With its narrow focus, the film
sometimes takes on the feel of a stage production, and there’s a certain sense
of theatricality in the way every important figure in Jobs’ life seem to
converge so they can hash it out with Jobs every time a new product launches —
Sorkin even has Jobs make a joke about it by the third time it happens.
Jobs betrayed those who considered
him a friend and mistreated those who cared for him, and for their part
everyone in his life seem to love and revile him in equal measure. Sorkin
underlines the connection between Jobs and the closed systems of the machines
he dreams up. His products are deliberately designed to be impossibly difficult
to open up and modify, characteristics that are equally true of the man
himself.
The ’84 section is the best of the
three sequences, buzzing with a sense of urgency as the major players work
frantically to make sure last-minute preparations get taken care of, determined
to deliver on the promise set by Apple’s infamous “1984” Super Bowl commercial —
which debuted just days prior. Boyle keeps his typically ostentatious visual
style in check, maintaining a fairly restrained look throughout. He’s aided by
Daniel Pemberton’s excellent score, which morphs to suit the mood of each
sequence — from electronic to opera — while lending each section a sense of
tension.
Jobs spent many years denying that
he was Lisa’s father, and it’s his relationship with the young girl that
becomes the emotional through line of the film. His gradual acceptance of Lisa
allows the cold and ruthless Jobs to receive a redemption. The last couple
scenes in particular feel patently phony, and while effective, were clearly
invented to give the otherwise unbending character of Jobs some semblance of an
arc. And that’s in keeping with the film that Boyle and Sorkin clearly set out
to make, which is less concerned about specific facts than in delivering a
satisfying look into technology of our modern age while exploring the idea of Steve
Jobs.
As Jobs, Fassbender
delivers a magnetic performance. Until the last section, he doesn’t
particularly look the part (the iconic glasses and black turtleneck help) but
he nails his essence. Prone to self-mythologizing, Jobs earned a reputation as
a tech genius while largely leaving the real technical work to others. When
asked, he explains his role: “musicians play the instruments, I play the
orchestra.” Kate Winslet is terrific; the voice of reason, she keeps things
from spiraling out of control, while imploring Jobs to behave like a decent
human being and stop alienating everyone around him. “Steve Jobs” offers the
first chance to hear the great actress take a crack at Sorkin’s banter-filled
dialogue, and it’s as wonderful as you’d expect; the scenes between her and Fassbender are the film’s finest.
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2015.
