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.