A Diluted Version of "The Social Network"
I almost felt obligated to watch this movie seeing as how almost all of the technology I use in my everyday life is made by Apple. I went with my mother, who also happens to be an Apple-freak and who also read Steve Jobs' biography and wanted to see how well the movie reflected the biographic account of Jobs' life. Of course, after the similar, drama-filled story of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, would Jobs be able to compete? In a word, no.
There were a couple things done really well in this movie, but were not enough to salvage this movie from mediocrity. First, I was very impressed with Ashton Kutcher's ability to eerily portray Jobs' stereotypical movements and speech patterns. It was good enough to keep me interested in the film, to see if maybe, just maybe, the movie would somehow turn it around. Sadly, it never did. Also, the casting of the film was great in the sense that the actors for the most part truly look like the people they are attempting to portray, especially Dermot Mulroney and Lukas Haas.
However, the bulk of this review needs to be spent explaining where this movie went wrong. The best way I can metaphorically describe this movie is as follows: watching Jobs was like riding the most boring roller coaster ever. I was excited to hop on board and the buildup at the beginning of the ride had a lot of hope and promise. However, once I got to the top of the surprisingly short buildup, the roller coaster ended up going in one direction: straight. The ups and downs were predictable and unexciting. Once I got to the end of the ride, I told my mom I would never have to see it again and I would be perfectly fine. Hopefully that made some sense. Basically, the movie simply didn't take any risks or sharp turns to keep the audience on edge. After watching The Social Network several years ago, this movie felt redundant and disenchanting.
Should you see it? Unless you are terribly intrigued by the life of Steve Jobs, then no. It would be more worth it to stay home and slap some popcorn in the microwave for a nice movie at home.
Written August 22, 2013
There were a couple things done really well in this movie, but were not enough to salvage this movie from mediocrity. First, I was very impressed with Ashton Kutcher's ability to eerily portray Jobs' stereotypical movements and speech patterns. It was good enough to keep me interested in the film, to see if maybe, just maybe, the movie would somehow turn it around. Sadly, it never did. Also, the casting of the film was great in the sense that the actors for the most part truly look like the people they are attempting to portray, especially Dermot Mulroney and Lukas Haas.
However, the bulk of this review needs to be spent explaining where this movie went wrong. The best way I can metaphorically describe this movie is as follows: watching Jobs was like riding the most boring roller coaster ever. I was excited to hop on board and the buildup at the beginning of the ride had a lot of hope and promise. However, once I got to the top of the surprisingly short buildup, the roller coaster ended up going in one direction: straight. The ups and downs were predictable and unexciting. Once I got to the end of the ride, I told my mom I would never have to see it again and I would be perfectly fine. Hopefully that made some sense. Basically, the movie simply didn't take any risks or sharp turns to keep the audience on edge. After watching The Social Network several years ago, this movie felt redundant and disenchanting.
Should you see it? Unless you are terribly intrigued by the life of Steve Jobs, then no. It would be more worth it to stay home and slap some popcorn in the microwave for a nice movie at home.
Written August 22, 2013