What is there to say about the plot? We had "Jobs," that atrociously-sloppy film starring Ashton Kutcher. In that film, we saw him adopt a funny way of walking and put on the gray wig and spectacles. Visually, he was the man, and yet here with Danny Boyle's (the director) take on the story, Michael Fassbender goes that much deeper into the character, despite bearing little resemblance to the deceased Apple CEO. All I needed to learn from Jobs was told to me through a water-tight screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, all without having to resort to the standard flashbacks to his early years or founding of the company. Yes, the film does have flashbacks, but rarely is it used to create more than an addendum to what we already know. It's easy for a movie to show a clever montage of footage that demonstrates a rise to power or fame. To withhold such tropes only creates an experience that requires that much more focus from the audience.
And boy is this a movie that rewards its audience. At times repetitive and constantly whirring in and out of fluorescent-lit corridors, Boyle's camera movements and Sorkin's 'walk-and-talk' style of writing makes for a nearly perfect marriage of filmmaking and writing. Just like Boyle's previous film, "127 Hours," he is not afraid to tell the story in claustrophobic spaces, in fact he relishes them and makes it all the more artful. Likewise with the words written on the page: effortlessly heard and yet overflowing with exposition... Listen to the voices and we move the plot along. Listen to the subtext and we understand the depth of these characters and the relationships they share.
We have Steve Jobs, of course, cocky and arrogant to the point of distancing himself from his staff, all but Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), his confidant and personal aide of sorts. Throughout the years, she is the one constant in his life that continues to guide his hand and assure his success. We also see Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen), Jobs' earliest friend and cofounder. We see him only as a witness on the sidelines, nearly forgotten in the roar of fame and fortune all around him. And then there is John Sculley (played by a genius Jeff Daniels), Apple's previous CEO and the man blamed for firing Jobs. The scenes these two men share are nearly all coupled by simultaneous cuts to earlier times they shared, scenes that present conflicting emotions and demonstrate perhaps the most difficult and exciting relationship we see in the film.
This is not to sideline the story of Steve's daughter Lisa and her mother Chrisann, unwelcome for the first half of the film and then challenged through the rest. Yes, Jobs is stubborn, but the change of heart comes from the small moments over time that demonstrate his coming to accept and embrace his estranged daughter, herself a quirky genius not unlike her father. It was in this aspect that the movie finds a heart, and provides an ending that is tear-jerking in a most unexpected way.
I think "Steve Jobs" is a great work of art and compassion. I left the movie with no differing thoughts on the man, but perhaps more insight into the way a man can become success and likewise become his own worst enemy. Michael Fassbender hits all the right notes and will surely walk away with an Oscar nomination, and so will Kate Winslet I imagine. Maybe the picture doesn't fall into any particular genre or style, but simply as a movie-going experience, this was a revolution to my senses.
(Awards potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Fassbender), Best Supporting Actor (Rogen, Daniels), Best Supporting Actress (Winslet), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Original Score)
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