Friday, November 13, 2015

Steve Jobs (a movie review post)

There's nothing about this movie that made me want to go see it. Steve Jobs was an asshole and, despite what may have been brilliance, I have no respect for the man. It doesn't take much, really, to just not be an asshole. And, despite thinking that Fassbender has been a fine Magneto, I have not thought much of him as an actor. If you need someone who can brood, Fassbender is a good go-to guy. No, the only reason I went to see this movie is because it has delusions of Oscar-hood.

That said, I came away pleasantly surprised. Not that it changes my opinion on Jobs, which is what it felt to me like what the movie was trying to do. It's very much a "See, he was just misunderstood" kind of movie. It's hard to misunderstand when someone is, rather purposefully, being an asshole.

But the movie was pretty good!

That the movie is good is completely based on the strength of the acting. Fassbender surprised me. As I said, I've never been overly impressed (or even slightly impressed) with him, so it was good to find out that he can do more than just brood and be angry. He had a strong performance in this. Then, Kate Winslet was even better.

Now, I like Kate Winslet. A lot. She's undervalued. I didn't even recognize her at first in her role as Joanna Hoffman. So, as good as Fassbender was, Winslet was better. Fassbender had to carry the movie, but I'm not sure he could have done it without someone good in the role of Hoffman. Winslet certainly made Fassbender's job much easier.

And without a doubt, there was no better person than Seth Rogen for the role of Wozniak. There's not really anything more to be said about that.

The movie is set around three major product launches in Jobs' career. I found that particular structure for the movie to be interesting while watching it. However, upon reflection, I've decided that it actually hampers the movie. The reason that it hampers the movie is that it is, in fact, a movie. The structure is such that everything that happens is through dialogue. We don't actually see any of the action of the story other than Jobs walking around and talking to people. As soon it was over, I felt like I'd been to a play -- and plays are fine; I like plays -- but, when I go to a movie, I want to see a movie, not a play.

So I'm glad I went to see it, because the acting was excellent but, if I had it to choose over, I wouldn't go see this in the theater. There's no compelling reason to do so.

18 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review. I'm not really hot to see the movie because Steve Jobs never really interested me as a person.

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  2. I want to see it although not enough to go see it in the theater. And I've always like Kate Winslet.

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    1. Alex: Kate is great, and she's great in this, too.

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  3. Even if the movie is good, I think I'll give it a pass. Steve Jobs doesn't interest me as a subject and like you said, he was an asshole. I'm not really sure why there's such an interest in the man.

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    1. Jeanne: Because he "changed the world." Also because he made a lot of money doing it.

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  4. MAN you said it all with that opening paragraph. I think "It doesn't take much... to NOT be an asshole" should be a t-shirt.

    I'm not overly impressed with Jobs, in his professional role, and despise him in his personal life. I never heard a single GOOD thing about him.

    That, and I don't like biopics, so I don't think I'll be seeing this.

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    1. Briane: You know, I've been meaning to do some t-shirt things. Maybe I will...

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  5. I enjoyed your analysis. Kate Winslet is an excellent actress. Seth Rogen seems the perfect choice for Woz. I feel kind of silly saying this, but I didn't know Jobs was an asshole. Was he always an asshole, or did he become an asshole after he made a kajillion bucks? I've read some stories about people who encountered him and said he was a regular guy. Maybe the asshole stuff was an act, or maybe the regular guy stuff was an act.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Janie: It seems he was always an asshole. He protected Woz to some extent because Woz was useful to him, but think about it: Wozniak did all the work, was the real creator of the PC, but, even today, what name do we know? We know Jobs because Jobs pretty much took the credit. Completely.

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  6. The acting, I have to agree with you, was spot-on. But wasn't very thrilled by the rest of it.

    Sorry to leave a link, Blogger won't allow my wordpress comment:
    Daily (w)rite

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  7. Interesting.... on the whole though, I've been uninspired to go watch or rent any of the recent releases out of the U.S. :/

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    1. Alex H: Um... I did like Bridge of Spies. Before that, though, the last good (great) movie I saw in the theater was Ant-Man.

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  8. Well it just goes to show you that you never know what you're going to get when you don't know what you're going to get. I've been mildly intrigued by the TV ads for this film, but not enough to get me to go see it in the theater. Of course there's not much that would get me to go to the theater these days. I'm content to wait for the DVD and see it at home and after your review I might actually see this if I remember to.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Lee: From a craft standpoint, it's interesting and worth watching.

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  9. Glad to hear it was a pleasant surprise. If we see this one, it will be via Netflix.

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