Steve Jobs

October seems to be the month of me watching movies I said I was going to check out a long time ago and am now just getting around to it. I watched the Ashton Kutcher Biopic of Jobs about this time last year because this movie was coming out and I wanted to see it. Of course because I have the attention span of a fly, I missed this movie and didn't watch it until it was able to be screened on HBO. However, to give the Ashton Kutcher Jobs movie credit, it actually helps to watch that movie first then watch this movie. That way you know the context, you know the whole story in its entirety, even if it doesn't feel complete, and you can delve more into the performances and the structure of this film because I will tell you, it is different. 

Steve Jobs is executed like a three act play. Each act of the movie takes place before the launch of

one of Job's quintessential products, The Macintosh, the Next Computer, and the IMac. You never see the launch and you never see anybody give any kind of presentation, but you do see Steve Jobs (played by Michael Fassbender) interact with people who had considerable influence on his life and the relationships that were the most important to him.

The entire movie he's being guided by his Marketing Assistant Johanna Hoffman (played by Kate Winslet). He interacts with his partners in founding Apple Steve Wozniak (played by Seth Rogen) and Andy Hertzfield (played by Michael Stuhlbarg). He talks with John Sculley (played by Jeff Daniels), the CEO of Apple and the closest thing Steve Jobs had to a father figure. And finally there are the interactions between him, his college girlfriend Chrisann Brennan (played by Katherine Waterston) and his daughter Lisa (played in multiple ages by Makenzie Moss, Ripley Sobo, and Perla Haney-Jardine), whom he for a long time refused to acknowledge was his actual daughter.

The great part of the film is that its able to hone in on the important events in Job's life, show glimpses of the smaller details without actually showing them, and delve into the characters better in pretty much the same amount of time as the Ashton Kutcher film. I'll just get it out of the way, Steve Jobs is a lot better of a film than Jobs was, because it was focused and concise on the parts it needed to be, and gave justice to the smaller things without making the movie feel bloated. 

Now, does that mean the movie is perfect? No it doesn't. There is plenty to talk about. 

I loved the three act nature of this movie. You really felt the close quarters of the film and it felt like a play. The stage was backstage as crowds of people gathered to see the unveiling of the new product and the preparation of that presentation is a close intimate location to really delve into some great character moments. 

Unfortunately, Michael Fassbender's Jobs isn't the greatest example to start on. Don't get me wrong, Fassbender gives a great performance. He really exemplifies a very complicated man who definitely goes through a transformation in two decades. You see how his life changes him and yet you don't feel like he's a different man. The problem with Fassbender isn't his ability to make us feel with his performance, the problem was there was nothing totally identifying Fassbender as playing Steve Jobs. 

Now I get it, its a hard thing to capture a man who is more of a legend than a public figure. Unless you are looking deep and comparing Fassbender's Jobs with actual video, there's nothing to really distinguish Jobs as his own individual. The one advantage Kutcher had on Fassbender was that he kind of looks like Jobs. I still think Fassbender gave the better performance, but I wasn't always convinced that I wasn't just watching Fassbender play a really interesting character as opposed to playing Jobs the really interesting character. 

Now if you know the behind the scenes story of this movie, you'll know that Fassbender wasn't the original choice to play Jobs. The role was handed down by multiple actors including Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio to name a few. At the end of the day, you're not going to complain if you end up with Fassbender as your third choice. The way Fassbender plays off other people really shows the relationship that Jobs had with them, especially the relationship with his daughter throughout the years. 

The one other thing about Michael Fassbender that I couldn't really shake in this movie, especially in

the beginning, was how great Batman v Superman would have been if Michael Fassbender had just done this performance as Lex Luthor instead of Jesse Eisenberg. The first act of the movie takes place in 1984 when Jobs was at his highest and probably the biggest asshole he ever was. The way he threatens his technicians, is condescending to Steve Wozniak, and sees himself as some kind of God is really something I would have loved to see in Lex Luthor and would have made Batman v Superman an amazing film... but I'm getting sidetracked.

Overall, Fassbender gave a really good performance, I just couldn't quite shake the fact that he didn't really look like Steve Jobs. And surprisingly, Fassbender couldn't quite get the American accent down. The actor was born in German and for some reason you get hints of a German accent in this film. I think it might have been the fact that Kate Winslet's character had a polish accent and maybe that pulled it out of Fassbender. Regardless, its a fantastic performance, I'm just not sure if it screamed Steve Jobs. 

Kate Winslet is a strong presence in the film. She is Job's marketing assistant and his personal confidant. She is there for a lot of the quintessential moments of Job's life and she's able to bring a lot of heart and soul to the movie. She provides a bit of a conscience to this guy who is just an asshole at times and but its a touching relationship all the same. 

The biggest surprise of the movie was the performance we got from Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak.

This is a performance you would never really expect from Seth Rogen, the guy who just made an animated movie that ended with Sausages and a bunch of food having a giant orgy. But Rogen actually gives one of the best performances of his career in this film. I think there's a misrepresentation of Steve Wozniak that this movie gets right. This film portrays him more as a man who didn't bad mouth Steve Jobs because he thought he deserved more credit for Apple's existent, he is portrayed more as a humble guy who thinks that the way Jobs does things is wrong. Some of the best scenes in the movie are the exchanges between Jobs and Wozniak and the credit belongs to Fassbender and Rogen for being able to portray these characters so well.

And then there's Jeff Daniels as John Sculley. I love Jeff Daniels. I think he is one of the most

underrated dramatic actors and I'm really glad he's been getting more and more opportunities to shine recently. Before watching the film I didn't know who Daniels was playing and then when I realized he was playing John Sculley, I thought that was absolutely perfect. My absolute favorite part in the film is the exchange between Sculley and Jobs where they talk about the circumstances that led to Job's firing from Apple in 1985. The acting and the cinematography, comparing the conversation before the presentation in 1988 with flashbacks from 1985 was a great way to show the duality of these characters and their relationship is done really well. I think I would have enjoyed more of a climatic ending to these two in the final act, but you could tell, that wasn't how they wanted to end the movie.

The real touching moments are the ones between Jobs and his daughter. If you want to talk about

evolving relationships, this is the best of the best. My favorite stories of actors portraying roles is when their vision for the role is exactly how it turns out, and Fassbender wanted to show Jobs as someone who had incredible vision and passion that got in the way of other things as opposed to just

being a cruel person. And that's exactly how it came off in this film. At the end when he admits to his daughter, "I'm poorly made" that hit just the right note and the entire movie really fits together beautifully.

I think a lot of the credit goes to writer Aaron Sorkin who is just able to write brilliant dialogue. It made a subject I had already watched a 2 hour movie on when I watched Jobs, seem interesting all over again when done in a different format.

I really wish this movie had come out instead of the Ashton Kutcher one because this one is just done better. It streamlines the important parts of the story, it provides beautifully crafted relationships through simple conversations back stage before a huge presentation, and it had well written dialogue that makes you feel and get a glimpse, even if it is a dramatized glimpse, into the life of a really inspiring person.

Did it have moments where I felt I was watching the missed potential of a perfect Lex Luthor, yes. But overall I really enjoyed Steve Jobs and definitely recommend you check it out. 

But what did you think? Did you think this movie righted the wrongs started by Ashton Kutcher's Jobs? Which did you prefer? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog. 

I'll leave you with this. When I first saw the title of this video, I didn't wanna use it because while its pretty obvious through previous accounts that Steve Jobs had a little bit of a temper and wasn't always the most pleasant person, I don't want to bad mouth the guy and say that's all he was. I chose this video to actually show that the man was more than his words and inspirational quotes you get online, he had personality. And whether or not Fassbender was able to portray that correctly, I think its worth having a least a little bit of a comparison to know what the movie is trying to convey. Enjoy!