Culture

Rating: 3/5

Jobs is a biographical drama that tells the story of Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former CEO of the Apple corporation. The film starts with Jobs as a barefoot college dropout in 1974 and ends with the invention of the iPod in 2001, unfortunately skipping the last ten years of his life.

I was familiar with Jobs’ biography beforehand and was worried the film was going to pussyfoot around the fact that he was, well, an arsehole. Brilliant, of course, but an arsehole. My concern proved to be unwarranted, however – the film was respectful whilst remaining truthful, with screenwriter Matt Whitely only too happy to explore Jobs’ intense, cutthroat personality.

Ashton Kutcher clearly took his role as Jobs very seriously. He perfectly mastered the idiosyncratic Jobs’ mannerisms, including the funny walk (although at times he took this too far and looked like a Thunderbird/Quasimodo). However, Kutcher’s “let it rip” approach meant that he was often yelling or crying in inappropriate scenes; it was impossible to forget that he was not, in fact, Steve Jobs, but rather an actor trying desperately for an Oscar nod. The real star of this film is Josh Gad as Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak. Gad’s performance is subtle, touching and believable – a breath of fresh air next to the manic Kutcher.

Although the film is stylish and sleek, it unfortunately treats the audience as though they’re idiots. Swooping violins are inserted behind all remotely significant moments, and almost everything said during the first fifteen minutes is expository. One particularly obnoxious example of this is when an acid-tripping Jobs quips some spaced-out poeticism about how he’s adopted – nice. However, the prize for the most unintentionally hilarious scene goes to the weak attempt to make computer programming look cool. Jobs and his friends are shown making logic boards … in slow motion … to rock music. Seriously?!

Jobs was an incredibly fascinating man, and the film mostly does this justice. It is disappointing, however, that his death – which was due to Jobs refusing mainstrem medical treatment for his pancreatic cancer and opting instead for alternative remedies – isn’t mentioned. Regardless, Jobs is still a worthwhile (if patronising) examination of a legendary figure.