JOBS: Directed by Joshua Michael Stern
– I’m a big fan of the Apple company and I’m always interested to see what kinds of products the company creates. Even though Steve Jobs was known to be a dick, he was undoubtedly one of the smartest marketers ever. You can also look at his leadership style in two ways, the first being that he was a terrible leader because he had no filter with his employees and acted like he didn’t respect them…but on the other hand, he pushed everyone to their limits and made them create things that no one thought possible. In my opinion he was a good leader because he was able to create the most valuable company in the world that creates products that are used every single day by millions of people…and he had to have lots of people around him to make it all happen.
– I don’t want this review to be all about my thoughts on Steve Jobs…but one more thing; he had so much passion and love for his products and that’s why he was so successful. He was obsessed with making his products as beautiful as possible, and I think that’s the reason why the world is so receptive to Apple products.
– It took me a while to see this for two reasons:
- I couldn’t believe Ashton Kutcher was cast as Steve Jobs. I can’t stand Kutcher. He may even be my most hated actor or actress in Hollywood.
- The poor reviews turned me off a bit. I was hoping I’d hear that Ashton somehow pulled off a great performance, but that never happened.
– Since I just talked about how much I can’t stand Ashton Kutcher, I’ll talk about him first. As you can see from the picture above he looks a lot like Steve Jobs, and it made it better for me as it looked like I was watching Steve Jobs and not Ashton Kutcher. As far as his performance goes, I think he has some great moments, but also some really bad ones. There are a couple scenes where he gets over emotional and it seems like he’s trying way too hard to deliver a special performance.
– The opening scene was a strong start to the film. Before going back in time to the origins of Apple, it shows Kutcher on stage about to unveil the first ever iPod. In this scene, from far away, he looks so much like Steve Jobs it’s actually kind of scary. When the camera zooms into him it’s completely messed up because he looks so much like him…just more messed up. I think this was a great opening to the film because the iPod changed the music industry forever and it shows everybody the kind of brilliance Steve Jobs left in the world.
– There are some amazing cameos:
- Victor Rasuk from RAISING VICTOR VARGAS and HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA,
- Elden Henson…freaking FULTON from THE MIGHTY DUCKS,
- Samm Levine, Neil Schweiber from FREAKS AND GEEKS!
– I thought Josh Gad was pretty good as Steve Wozniak (the man who basically created the computer before Jobs got involved in making it into a business). Gad is usually in more comedic roles, but he holds his own in this dramatic role. He also looks a lot like the real Wozniak.
– At the very end some pictures are shown of the real people beside the actors in the film and it’s pretty impressive how all of them look very similar to the real thing.
– It’s neat to see some of the really old Apple products.
– If you already know lots about Apple and Steve Jobs, you won’t learn anything new.
– It’s crazy to think…at the beginning of the film Kutcher makes a deal with an investor and values the company at $300,000…today it has a market cap of around $443 billion…that’s messed up.
I went into this with the lowest of expectations, and because of that I finished the film fairly satisfied. All I needed from Ashton Kutcher was for him to be tolerable, and for the majority of the film he is. His performance isn’t anything special, I just wanted him to be good enough so that I could enjoy my time learning a little bit more about the Apple company. One great thing about JOBS is that all the actors look a lot like the real people…especially Kutcher in the opening scene that I mentioned above. Even though I knew almost all of the information told in the film, I still found it interesting to watch, but many people may find it a little boring and repetitive as it doesn’t reveal anything new. Steve Jobs was such an iconic man and I was really hoping for a strong ending to showcase that, and I think they ended the film perfectly. JOBS is getting terrible reviews and Ashton Kutcher is in it, and even though I don’t think it was that good, it was a lot better than I was expecting.
There’s no way I could end this review without one of Apple’s genius quotes that Steve Jobs read himself on a commercial for Apple when he went back to the company as CEO:
square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have
no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the
human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world – are the ones who DO !”
~ Apple Computers ~ – See more at: http://herestothecrazyones.com/#sthash.aJ7hknod.dpuf
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the
only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence
and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world…are the ones who do”
– Apple Computers
JOBS: 5/10
square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have
no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the
human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world – are the ones who DO !”
~ Apple Computers ~ – See more at: http://herestothecrazyones.com/#sthash.aJ7hknod.dpuf
square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have
no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the
human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world – are the ones who DO !”
~ Apple Computers ~ – See more at: http://herestothecrazyones.com/#sthash.aJ7hknod.dpuf
square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have
no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the
human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world – are the ones who DO !”
~ Apple Computers ~ – See more at: http://herestothecrazyones.com/#sthash.aJ7hknod.dpuf
Related articles
- “Jobs” movie review (umd.uloop.com)
- Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in furious war of words with Ashton Kutcher over Steve Jobs biopic (independent.co.uk)
- Ashton Kutcher on Steve Wozniak’s ‘jOBS’ Criticisms: He’s Paid to Support Rival Biopic (aceshowbiz.com)
Fast Film Judge 
This movie didn’t work for me at various levels. Neither did it have enough of Jobs’ life in it, nor did it have enough of what exactly he did to make Apple the giant success story it is today. Instead of moving back and forth jerkily between Jobs’ personal and professional life, the movie instead should have focused on just one of them.
I personally found The Social Network more entertaining and relatable simply because of the fact that it focused only on the Facebook aspect of Zuckerberg and not on his personal life. Jobs’, the movie tries to tell too many things, I mean, for example, what was the entire India angle about, was it even required in the movie, did it help move the story along, I don’t think so.
Have to agree with you on the casting part though. The end credits where the original people and the cast are shown side by side, that clearly proves that the Casting Crew did its job really well. And yes, Josh Gad as Steve Wozniak was well portrayed and comes across as the likeable character that Woz really seems to be in real life.
I agree…they were a little too ambitious in trying to tell so many things at once.