8 Best Things About "Steve Jobs" (First Impressions)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 4:01PM True confession: When I read Jason's breathless rave for Steve Jobs from my sick bed last week I was like "calm down, man, it can't be that good" Cut to one week later me sitting in the theater, as the end credits rolled: "I gotta read that rave again and nod my head vigorously this time!" While I suspect I don't love it quite as much as Jason, it is inarguably one of 2015's must-see picture and we shan't be annoyed at all when it racks up Oscar nominations in January.
The film goes wide on Friday and trust that you'll want to be there. Here are my 8 favorite things about it at first glance...
1. Michael Fassbender. It's probably too soon to call it his best work but, thrillingly, it feels next to nothing like his other greatest performances which in no particular order are Shame, 12 Years a Slave, Hunger, Fish Tank, and Prometheus. Best actor of his generation. (I'd like to scream "I saw him first!" but it wouldn't quite be true. Nevertheless we were an early adopter and I am proud to have already honored him with 8 nominations and 6 medals in our annual Film Bitch Awards.)
2. The Screenplay. Yes, it's unmistakably an Aaron Sorkin Play (not the he writes plays... except that he kind of does) with the great and the obnoxious that that implies. But that three act structure, based around three product launches (The Macintosh, The Next, the iMac) is a brilliant device. A conceptual gimmick? Absolutely. But so what? It brilliantly amplifies the showmanship, devout aesthetic sense, and advertising gifts that we all associate with Apple and that the film wants us to associate with Steve Jobs without having to constantly and explicitly address them with the dialogue.
3. Quotables. They're there and it's only a matter of time before everyone knows them by heart a la the best exchanges from The Social Network.
4. Smart Visual Choices. Particularly choice is the repetitive image of Steve Jobs staring at pieces of paper laid out orderly which look alternately like opaque icons that have been newly arranged on a desktop, window light reflection, a storyboard or look board that Danny Boyle and Aaron Sorkin are also peeking at between setups.
5. Editing. At 122 minutes Steve Jobs plays like a movie closer to 100: fleet on its feet, consistently electric, jam-packed with information not filler, never dull. It comes at you so fast and is so thoughtful and ngaging thought and nuance and emotion into its vaguely real time three acts.
6. Kate Winslet. Getting her mojo back in a big but unshowy way it's her best performance since 2008. I never would have expected Winslet & Fassbender's particular charismas as screen stars to be a great fit but they have amazing chemistry as a screen couple. They full sell this open / closed intimate / platonic have known each other forever friendship / working relationship. Expect a Supporting Actress nomination though I suspect people clamoring for a second win are setting themselves up for disappointment.
[Total tangent but ever topical: Here is where we see the limitations of citing screentime to determine category placement. Joanna is a Supporting Role through and through -- the narrative is never ever about her and even when she's in the scene (most of the time) she's there to be a sounding board, reflection of, or bolster for the leading player. But I bet Winslet has more screentime than some actual leads this year.]
7. Danny Boyle. He's always at his best when you hem him in somehow whether that's with low budgets (Shallow Grave) confines of actual space (127 Hours) limitations of equipment (28 Days Later) or a screenplay voice that is so authorial that his job is to properly showcase it (Trainspotting/Steve Jobs)
8. Imperfect Perfection. Even the faults feel weirdly like strengths at times. Yes, the accent work is spotty (particularly Kate Winslet's Polish) but the actors are so engaged, and interested in both their material and each other that it's easy to feel you're watching live actors on a stage with all the in-the-moment imperfection and electricity that that implies. Plus there's the "reality distortion effect" dialogue to excuse weird dissonances and in and out of the movie awareness. As for the overreaching for dramatic effect (Act 2 Jeff Daniels vs. Michael Fassbender in Act 2 is gilding of the lily in the shoutiest cross-cutting way possible... though I understand a lot of people think it's one of the best scenes?) and the occasionally on-the-nose psychological profiling... minor missteps can be excused in any truly ambitious picture and they can also humanize greatness.
Related zinger: Wozniack (Seth Rogen, very solid and eager to serve the movie) gets one of the movie's best lines, angrily suggesting that Steve Jobs wants him to build a computer with "Steve Jobs" flaws.
Reader Comments (26)
Can NOT wait. One question: i've heard already lots of tittering about the polish accent but the times that i've seen footage of the real woman, her Polish accent came in and out with some american sounds. Could it be that Kate captured this woman a little too well and it doesn't sound consistent to us? Or does it sound odd/badly done?
Loved it as well. My favorite of the year
Nat: So it's closer to, say, Christopher Walken in Batman Returns style supporting?
I feel like Winslet will be a magnet for precursor wins, whether or not she takes the Oscar. A red herring Globe win a la Blanchett in I'm Not There or a "WE JUST LOVE YOU!" SAG win, not to mention some major critics prizes might be in the cards.
Was going in a little anxious; came out swooning.
Yay for your point 8 "Imperfect Perfection"!
That's what I was hoping for with this film- that ragged quality of Danny Boyle to de-pristine the Sorkin a bit. Really looking forward to it!
Something I heard was that Winslet's character was underwritten and her entire existence revolves around Steve Jobs, ie caring about his parenting more than anything or whatever.
Do you think she was underwritten?
At nomination seven why wait to give Winslet a second Oscar? She's in far greater urgency for another than Lawrence.
Because there are people who have zero and nobody is demanding a second for Lawrence yet?
The reviews of this movie have been so refreshing. The three-act thing along gives me enough reason to want to cheer it since we did not need another tired birth to death biopic about a flawed white dude.
Glenn Dunks: That's interesting, but I'm also not sure the three chosen were entirely the best microcosm. The first two are perfectly chosen as Act 1 & 2, but, if I were the producer, I'd have probably asked Sorkin to switch the iMac launch for the Toy Story premiere as the closer, for a headier mix of third act dramatic triumph and "even if I never bought an Apple product, I probably felt the touch of Jobs" audience gut punch.
Steve Jobs might be my least favorite Fassbender performance. He's obv very good but I just didn't respond to him as I usually do.'
As for Winslet's character; all the men- Jobs, Woz, Scully- are obsessed with their position in world & legacy, as men usually are in a Sorkin screenplay. However Joanna Hoffman exists only to serve as a sometimes stern mother figure with no obsessions of her own.
Murtada: I read Isaacson's Jobs book. That's pretty much what she was in real life. Do we need counter-examples? Yes. But we ALSO don't need a real person to get the Gandhi 2 treatment to be a "counter-example."
Dying to see this! Can't wait until Saturday!
So does the ending ruin the movie or not like the Twitter reviews suggested?
I hope Fassbender will win the Oscar. He was unfairly snubbed of a nom for Shame, such a complex & fearless perf
I wld luv Winslet to win her 2nd Oscar too, but I thot Mara deserves it more...
Speaking o Carol, I hope Cate nabbed her 3rd Oscar & joined the rank o Meryl & J Nicolson
M Keaton wld probably won best sup actor for Spotlight to make up for his loss for Birdman
Ian -- the ending does not at all ruin the movie. I have no idea what Twitter is on about. Twitter is like a hyperactive kid jumping towards the extremes all the time.
volvagia -- you are crazy. tPixar has nothing to do with it. It's very smart choices for the 3 acts.
ar -- i did not feel she was underwritten. i was given everything i needed to know about the character because the story was not at all about her. It was about the men of Apple fighting for legacy but also about Steve Jobs as a person/egomaniac
Because there are people who have zero and nobody is demanding a second for Lawrence yet?
Guy Lodge wants a second for Lawrence.
People with zero wins will always exist. This does not stop the parade of multiple acting Oscar wins. Winslet has more than earned the right to possess two competitive statuettes without the bitter aftertaste of Field, Foster, Swank, and inevitably Lawrence.
I'm so excited to see this Friday.
Saw it on opening night and so glad I did. Very much liked it... loved it even. Yes, I didn't expect Fassbender/Winslet to have the chemistry they did but so SO happy they did have it.
Personally not seeing a second or third Oscar for JLaw (thank God she is joining Streep on the equal pay train), Blanchett or Winslet. Would love to see a newcomer like Carey Mulligan or Brie Larson win, and have their whole career ahead of them. Same with Rooney Mara for supporting.
My only concern with this movie is its title. Everyone knew The Social Network was the Facebook movie, they didn't have to name it 'Facebook.' Surely they could have been a little more inventive here too?
My only concern with this movie is its title. Everyone knew The Social Network was the Facebook movie, they didn't have to name it 'Facebook.' Surely they could have been a little more inventive here too?
Remake "The sound of music" and cast Fassy as Captain Von Trapp.
OK, I haven't read this post because I'm trying to avoid spoilers, but as much as this movie is getting raves, I'm hesitant to see it. Can someone tell me: is it just watching an asshole be an asshole for two hours? I mean yes, he's a complex, flawed genius, but really, is this complex, flawed genius just an asshole for two straight hours?
djdeeday -- i am not a spoiler type of writer. ;) but i totally understand going into anything cold. i love doing that.
Not being all that well reviewed and people are getting tired of these biopic movies. It's a bunch of A-listers doing impersonations. Way too self-congratulatory. Boyle's made one really good movie (Trainspotting, though admittedly I've never seen Millions). He's veering toward outright schlock and pandering sentimentality at this point. Just seems like an overrated British goof with the second worst haircut in Hollywood behind Brian Grazer.
Nat: I saw it and...though not bad I basically agree with the ending rationale I gave for the track switch I identified.