What to Watch: Steve Jobs

I wasn't expecting to like this movie as much as I did, but I really, really did. Steve Jobs is this mythical person who changed the world, and it's right that we learn a little about what made him tick. 

I thought Michael Fassbender's portrayal of him was so impressive. We've all had friends, coworkers, foes, people in our lives like him--they're tough. They don't respond the way we think they will. They may be universally disliked. But, they do not care. Fassbender did that so very well. As an unlikable character, I thought he was so compelling. And, who among us isn't flawed. This myth of a man is famously flawed--but he was also a visionary. The plotline with his daughter brings this to light more than anything else. And at the end... when he makes a concession, it was really moving.

I loved this cast of characters--meeting his daughter Lisa, his old friend who's the real computer science genius, Woz (I think Seth Rogan did a great job! His perspective is most like the audience's--probably--and because of that we're able to see how Jobs rose above expectations and niceties to become who he was. Kate Winslet is always amazing, and here she plays the person who understands Jobs, is his sidekick (basically) and almost his foil. She plays a similar role to Woz in this but has more of an independent nature. She was so believable and she was moral when Jobs wasn't. She pushed him. I really liked it. Also, Jeff Daniels as John Sculley was so interesting. Of course I'd heard about their friendship/rivalry, but I like the plotline here--I won't spoil it, but it's slightly more friendly than what I've read.

Overall, I'm highly recommending this one.

From YouTube:

Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.

Steve Jobs is directed by Academy Award® winner Danny Boyle and written by Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin, working from Walter Isaacson’s best-selling biography of the Apple founder. The producers are Mark Gordon, Guymon Casady of Film 360, Scott Rudin and Academy Award® winner Christian Colson.

Michael Fassbender plays Steve Jobs, the pioneering founder of Apple, with Academy Award®-winning actress Kate Winslet starring as Joanna Newsome, former marketing chief of Macintosh. Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple, is played by Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels stars as former Apple CEO John Sculley. The film also stars Katherine Waterston as Chrisann Brennan, Jobs’ ex-girlfriend, and Michael Stuhlbarg as Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original members of the Apple Macintosh development team.