First 'Steve Jobs' review calls film 'must-see,' hails Michael Fassbender's 'enthralling' performanc
Writer Aaron Sorkin's forthcoming "Steve Jobs" biopic screened at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend, and the first review has emerged with considerable praise, calling the movie an unconventionally constructed, "brilliant" piece of filmmaking.
Variety's Chief Film Critic Justin Chang lauded the film as a "must-see" for a number of reasons, including an unconventional storytelling structure, as well as "an enthralling performance" by lead actor Michael Fassbender, who takes on the title role of the Apple co-founder.
"This is a film of brash, swaggering artifice and monumental ego, a terrific actors' showcase and an incorrigibly entertaining ride," Chang wrote.
The critic noted that screenwriter Sorkin's take on Jobs, based on the book by Walter Isaacson, is not "the most comprehensive account possible," going as far as to say some of the dramatic creations are "outrageous." But much like Sorkin's Oscar winning film about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the film takes creative liberties to portray Jobs as those around him saw him.
In the words of Chang, the film presents Jobs as "both an iconic visionary and a monster with a silicon chip where his heart should be."
Directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle, best known for "Slumdog Millionaire," the film also stars Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, Jeff Daniels as John Sculley, and Kate Winslet as former Mac marketing head Joanna Hoffman.
The film will also screen at the New York Film Festival on Oct. 3, where it will have the distinction of holding the prestigious "Centerpiece" slot. It will then open to the general public on Oct. 9.
Variety's Chief Film Critic Justin Chang lauded the film as a "must-see" for a number of reasons, including an unconventional storytelling structure, as well as "an enthralling performance" by lead actor Michael Fassbender, who takes on the title role of the Apple co-founder.
"This is a film of brash, swaggering artifice and monumental ego, a terrific actors' showcase and an incorrigibly entertaining ride," Chang wrote.
The critic noted that screenwriter Sorkin's take on Jobs, based on the book by Walter Isaacson, is not "the most comprehensive account possible," going as far as to say some of the dramatic creations are "outrageous." But much like Sorkin's Oscar winning film about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the film takes creative liberties to portray Jobs as those around him saw him.
In the words of Chang, the film presents Jobs as "both an iconic visionary and a monster with a silicon chip where his heart should be."
Directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle, best known for "Slumdog Millionaire," the film also stars Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, Jeff Daniels as John Sculley, and Kate Winslet as former Mac marketing head Joanna Hoffman.
The film will also screen at the New York Film Festival on Oct. 3, where it will have the distinction of holding the prestigious "Centerpiece" slot. It will then open to the general public on Oct. 9.
Comments
I'd rather skip it.
From John Gruber at DaringFireball.net:
JONATHAN KIM ON ALEX GIBNEY’S ‘STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE’
Jonathan Kim calls it “an Apple-hater’s manifesto”
Sounds like the film equivalent of Yukari Iwatani Kane’s book Haunted Empire — an attempt to fit the facts to a preconceived narrative, rather than craft a narrative from the actual facts.
That's a helpful link...
Except for the part where that is a completely different movie...
I'd rather skip it.
From John Gruber at DaringFireball.net:
JONATHAN KIM ON ALEX GIBNEY’S ‘STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE’
Jonathan Kim calls it “an Apple-hater’s manifesto”
Sounds like the film equivalent of Yukari Iwatani Kane’s book Haunted Empire — an attempt to fit the facts to a preconceived narrative, rather than craft a narrative from the actual facts.
"The Man in the Machine" is a documentary, and a completely different film, that you can watch on demand right now. The film this story is about, "Steve Jobs," is a scripted biopic that has not yet hit theaters.
http://deadline.com/2015/09/steve-wozniak-says-steve-jobs-the-movie-gets-it-all-correct-1201516399/
I'd rather skip it.
From John Gruber at DaringFireball.net:
JONATHAN KIM ON ALEX GIBNEY’S ‘STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE’
Jonathan Kim calls it “an Apple-hater’s manifesto”
Sounds like the film equivalent of Yukari Iwatani Kane’s book Haunted Empire — an attempt to fit the facts to a preconceived narrative, rather than craft a narrative from the actual facts.
You are talking about a different movie.
Don't skip Gibney's documentary though. Whether you like it or not it is still worth watching.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/steve-jobs/review/820561
Can't wait to see it.
Say what?
Sudden bout of Tourret's?
I'm going to assume it's told non-linearly, and hops back and forth across Steve's time line. That's all the rage nowadays.
Linear narrative is so bourgeois!
Woz gives it a thumbs up.
http://deadline.com/2015/09/steve-wozniak-says-steve-jobs-the-movie-gets-it-all-correct-1201516399/
So, Woz says that he actually confronted Steve and demanded to know "what do you do"?
Here's another glowing review.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/steve-jobs/review/820561
Glowing, alright...
I've no interest in seeing a stagey melodrama of a fictitious Jobs.
And the "review" continues:
Feh! It's the same old motormouth characters thrown into a pressure cooker. Gave up on Sorkin when his TV news drama came out. Fifteen minutes of that drivel and I never looked back.
It's centred around the release of the Mac, the Cube and the iMac according to reviews.
I'd prefer the last scene was the iPhone.
Woz probsbly realises that the script is loosely based on real life, but not exactly word for word
From what I've seen it takes place before 3 different unveilings.
Originally Posted by SpamSandwich
I've no interest in seeing a stagey melodrama of a fictitious Jobs.
I bet you still watch it.
I think just about anyone who likes Apple or Fassbender or Sorkin will watch it, just because.
It's going to be hard to resist seeing it in my opinion.
I could see Ashton Kutcher, Justin Long & Noah Wyle as Jobs... But Fassbender??? I don't know.
And Seth Rogan... I would be totally insulted if I was Woz! He's an idiot (which he plays very well) and is nothing like Woz!