Director: Joshua Michael Stern
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 8 minutes
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For as much flack as this movie has been getting since its release, "Jobs" really isn't that bad. We were expecting something much worse than what we saw. One of the critiques I had heard going into this film was that it didn't portray Jobs as the person he truly was. This is wrong, the movie does just fine in portraying him as a selfish, egotistical jerk, so Apple fans, beware.
The thing of it is, Jobs really was a huge asshole, there's no other way to put it. He was uncompromising, ruthless, at times exhibited abhorrent behavior, and was extremely self-centered. That being said, he was also a driven visionary and marketing genius, there's really no other way to put that, either. He did things that no one else was doing, and took risks that paid off for him in the end, but still stepped on the toes (read: heads) of his closest friends to get there. For example, Jobs screwed Steve Wozniak out of a bonus he had gotten while working for Atari. He also purposely and knowingly didn't give Daniel Kottke, an original Apple employee and friend of Jobs, stock options into the company once they went public. He ignored his daughter, refusing to pay child support for many, many years, despite knowing that she and her mother lived on welfare. He was notorious for flying off the handle at the drop of a dime, sometimes without good reason. These are just a few examples, mind you.
Ashton Kutcher was this films biggest detriment and he constantly looked like he was going to burst into laughter throughout the entire movie. Maybe "serious" just isn't his thing. For what it's worth, with facial hair, Ashton really did look like Steve Jobs. When he shaved for a board meeting about half way through the film, then he looked like Michael Kelso a la "That 70's Show!" I don't know if Steve Jobs walked like he had a stick up his ass, but Ashton Kutcher did in this film, so that might be something to fact check. The supporting cast was fine, but Ashton is where the movie suffered.
There were details about Apple's rise and fall and rise again that could have easily been shown in this film to give it more depth and accuracy other than an angry phone call between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Overall, I think most of the movie is fairly straightforward, even if it comes off as one big giant Apple commercial. Apple fans choose to ignore the truth about Steve Jobs' demeanor and actions, but it doesn't negate the contributions and advancements in the technological world.
My Rating: 5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 26%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.
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