Naturally, a film released about the man who co-founded Apple and left behind a cult of devoted followers would be an honest portrayal of Steve Jobs, yes?
The answer in Joshua Michael Stern's ("Swing Vote") film "Jobs" seems to be a resounding no. The film is a series of biographical vignettes sprinkled with what can be only described as unabashed advertisements for Apple and its many sterile products. And its omissions of many of Steve Jobs's exploits seems to be unable to convey what makes Jobs himself an interesting subject to warrant such a fallow enterprise.
In its stead, we have a film that examines its subject with a dry and shallow cause and is afraid to question a legacy in the way "The Social Network" did with style and jagged brashness.
The film "Jobs" follows the life of Steve Jobs as he creates the company Apple from its beginnings in his parents garage to a billion dollar technology titan.
"Jobs" bookends its proceedings with Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher, "The Butterfly Effect") as the black turtlenecked clad pitchman and weaver of words. Believing that the power to a good product is simplicity, the resulting film "Jobs" treats its main subject with the same philosophy.
From his beginnings in Reed College in 1974 where Jobs hung around long enough to stumble into a calligraphy class, out into wheat fields barefoot, and into the halls of Atari as a developer, we see moments where the cunning of Jobs to claim others work as his own is writ large. Kutcher conveys the destructive narcissism of Jobs in his private life, but it's a film only takes the trimmings of the individual so far.
Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad, "Love and Other Drugs") helps him finish a game project and Jobs happens upon a skeletal model desktop sitting out in the open. Lights flash, bulbs flicker, chips sizzle into life, and the music kicks in. There's gold to be mined.
Soon, Jobs, with the help of a various gang of misanthrop computer developers strike a deal with capital investors to start the company. We get to see Jobs's business acumen on display and the eventual effect it has on his relationships.
Kutcher dons a gait in his walk although it never becomes an immersive experience and feels more like watching someone play dress up. The identity of Jobs is enshrouded in whatever the costume designer can muster, not whether the performer can evoke a character rather than imitating notable idiosyncrasies.
