An impossible perfectionist, an utterly vainglorious egomaniac, an intently focused mover and shaker, Steve Jobs also sucks at life outside the workplace. Yet he’s somehow not a total asshole. Leave it up to his biographer and people who knew him to pass judgement on the accuracy of Michael Fassbender’s performance as Steve Jobs. On the entertainment and insight scales, however, Fassbender (Hunger, A Dangerous Method, 12 Years A Slave) positively nails it. Simultaneously revolting and highly compelling, Fassbender’s Jobs effectively makes you hate him for his inscrutable insensitivity, but not before proclaiming, “Hey, wait a minute.”
Not that he isn’t trying hard to be despicable. Jobs would rather deny his paternity of 5-year-old offspring Lisa than take the time to deal with the situation. His treatment of Lisa’s mom (Katherine Waterson–Inherent Vice, Queen of the Earth) sure seems utterly wretched given his multi-millionaire status versus her welfare-level existence. The usually hyper-intelligent Jobs challenges his fathering of Lisa despite the prospect of DNA testing. When it comes in at 94 per cent chance of his being her dad, Jobs still hedges. What’s with this guy?!
Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network) focus on Job’s shortcomings yet actually cut him a break by stopping the film at 2008. Not mentioned are the multiple scandals acutely depicted in the documentary Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine that occurred after the rollout of the I-phone and the I-pad, two events not covered here. Boyle and Sorkin are content to focus on the swath of time that included a couple of fairly huge business failures for Jobs, and his unwavering ability to rebound even stronger. Throughout, Jobs has little concern for the feelings of original partner Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) who expresses a stinging resentment over Jobs’ unwillingness to acknowledge Wozniak’s team’s contributions with the Apple2. Since Jobs deems the Apple2 a dinosaur, he doesn’t budge.
Given Sorkin’s rat-a-tat erudite dialogue and Boyle’s fervid but at times exorbitant direction (his use of a magical realism device is decidely excessive and silly), the proceedings here are often downright theatrically dizzying. Yet, despite the presence of Boyle and Sorkin, this feels like Fassbender’s movie more than anyone’s. He creates a believable monster yet one without undue artifice. Whatever the innate excesses of the main character of this film, none can be attributed to attenuation due to overacting. Fassbender is totally in control and now the favorite for the Best Actor Oscar. Very good turns by Jeff Daniels (as Apple CEO John Sculley), and Kate Winslet (as Jobs’s marketing director) contribute nicely.
By the film’s climax, a sudden shift occurs and what can be perceived as a (gasp) sentimental ending rears its unseemly head. Jobs’ interest in Zen Buddhism is barely mentioned in this film. A significant element in Steve Jobs: The Man and The Machine, it was apparent that Jobs was likely far more interested in Zen as a facilitator for greater career focus than as an avenue for compassion.
When Jobs’ moment of empathy finally comes, it’s an odd duck of a desperate gesture. Boyle stylistically milks it to death, rendering it weak compensation for what had been a hard-hitting criticism, now tempered if not fully compromised. Yet just as Jobs’ nastiness is shadowed throughout the film by a mysterious and insistent counter-force, the film’s maudlin conclusion contains a naggingly soothing glass-half-full aspect if one wishes to sidestep its jarring change of tone.