Originally tipped as an Oscar front-runner, Steve Jobs has famously flopped disastrously at the American box office. Conventional wisdom seems to be that it is because no-one is interested in a biopic of him. I have to agree that I would not be interested either, so it is just as well that Danny Boyle’s film is far from a straightforward biopic of the infuriating and largely unlikable Jobs. Instead we are taken to three of his product launches between 1984 and 1998, so that we get an insight into both how his computers developed, and how his relationships with those close to him deteriorated over the years.
It feels very much like a three act play – it was indeed rehearsed and shot that way – but Steve Jobs is never less than utterly engrossing. That is thanks to a beautifully written script by Aaron Sorkin; one that is less preachy than some of his other efforts and most of the performances. Michael Fassbender is magnetic as Jobs and Seth Rogan is much better than he has ever been before as his original creative partner Steve Wozniak. The film particularly comes to life at about the half way mark when two scenes involving Jobs and his one time boss John Sculley (Jeff Daniels) are cut together. Truly stunning stuff, aided by Daniels’ brilliant performance, it is a career high-point for Boyle.
The women in the film fare less well. Winslet is okay as the marketing manager Joanna Hoffman, but her wavering accent (which isn’t present at all in 1984 but much thicker later) is a little off-putting. The usually excellent Katherine Waterston has little to do other than whine as Chrisann, the mother of Job’s daughter. The other thing which slightly lets the film down is the last five minutes, especially the very last scene and it does lapse into Jobs worship that I initially feared might appear throughout the film.
Despite the flaws, what is good in this movie is so very good that it deserves a very high rating.
Rating: 9 out of 10