Rating: C+
We didn’t need another film about Steve Jobs. This latest work shows us behind the scenes of the digital revolution, where we see the man at its epicentre, the late Steve Jobs, portrayed by Michael Fassbender. The film’s plot unfolds backstage at three iconic product launches, ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac.
I was interested in this film because I’d heard it showed Jobs’ dark side, and the film certainly characterises the man in a new and unseen way. During the film, he makes insane requests, like getting his assistant to find a stranger wearing a shirt his size with a different pocket and buy it off him so Jobs can wear it. He is also cruel to his ex-girlfriend, implying in Time magazine that 28% of American men could be the father of her child. He is condescending and nasty to his friends and co-workers. Alongside him, Kate Winslet plays Jobs’ long-suffering, assistant, with a non-specific European accent and a series of bad hairdos. Her acting is fantastic but her character seems absurdly un-professional for such a high-powered position. She gets involved in his personal life, and threatens to quit her job over Jobs’ relationship with his daughter.
The premise of the film was bizarre. At each unveiling of a product, Jobs is bombarded by the mother of his estranged daughter demanding money, by his assistant and co-workers, and later, by his grown daughter trying to have a meaningful relationship with him.
Visually, the film consistently sets scenes with low lighting and dark wood grain backgrounds; a different look to Apple’s familiar, bright-white aesthetic. The highlight was seeing Jobs take his shoes and socks off and dip his feet one by one into a toilet. He then walks across the room and dries his feet with a towel.
Overall, it was a pretty strage experience. The plot failed to draw me in. Perhaps if you are more into corporate arguments than I am, you may enjoy this film more than I did. I didn’t relate to Jobs’ “feelings” and found him totally hateful through the whole film. But maybe that was the point?