Film Review: Steve Jobs

Over the weekend, I watched the film, Steve Jobs. This film is a biopic about the co-founder of Apple. The movie completely covers the behind-the-scenes stuff of the moments leading up to three major product launches. Within these three events, we see Steve’s push to get his vision for an ideal computer onto the market, his fall and comeback as the CEO of Apple, and his relationships with his co-workers and his daughter.

So I’ll start with saying I loved the cinematography and shooting style of this film. It used really smart and unexpected camera angles and movements which greatly enhanced its storytelling. There was one point where Steve hands his daughter a piece of paper and I expected a standard cut to a close-up on the paper to see what was on it, but instead, the camera continues the shot, zooms up to the paper, and you’re able to see through the paper because of the bright flashing lights. That was just one of the cool shot choices that I never would have thought of and really impressed me.

Another thing I though was very creative was the way the filmic look changed throughout each of the three acts. In the first act, set during the product launch of the Mac in 1984, the film has a very early 1980s look, having lots of film grain and color and lighting that you would expect out of an early 1980s movie. They even purposely add dirt to the film, causing small white spots to occasionally appear onscreen, adding extra authenticity to that filmic look. In each successive act, the grain is lessened and the color and lighting become more modern-looking. So by the third act, set during the launch of the iMac in 1998, the film has a modern digital film look.

As for the storytelling, I think was overall really good. I like the unique way it told the story, using the three product launches as the three acts of the story and filling in the gaps with flashbacks. I also appreciate that the filmmakers didn’t make Steve Jobs appear to be some perfect genius. While they do show that he was a smart guy, they also show that he was often quite a trashbag to other people because he was so determined to get his way.

To finish, I really enjoyed this movie, and would recommend it to anyone who likes movies with great cinematography or enjoys stories based on real people.