The story about co-founder of Apple computers Steve Jobs, immediately sounds like a definite winner. Someone with that kind of drive and successful entrepreneurship must be an interesting subject matter for a film. Casting said film with a young charasmatic actor in Ashton Kutcher is an inspired choice that will bring even more attention to a movie, that like its product, has endless posibilities. This kind of potential is probably why the failure of JOBS stings all the more.
Spanning from his days as a college dropout in 1974 all the way to his announcement of the iPod in 2001, JOBS covers the rise, fall, and rise of famous inventor and entrepreneur Steve Jobs. Starting things out with a few friends in his parents garage to the politics of running a multi-billion dollar corporation, JOBS has only enough time to highlight moments that it finds most important about the character. Steve Jobs drive to create a product that will benefit the world is clearly the driving force with a few hints of a guy who only cares about what he wants and would easily step over his friends, girlfriend and daughter at the drop of a hat.
The film ambitiously tries to cover a large span of Jobs’ life, but wastes so much time on b-roll with unnecessary lingering or slow-motion shots. An early scene of college Steve taking acid wandering in a field goes on way too long that seems to set a precedent of unneeded material throughout the picture. Perhaps the moment was a sign of inspiration but having uplifting music over a smiling Ashton Kutcher looking into the sun for a couple of minutes comes across more pandering, irritating and an hour longer than the actual time it took. At every turn we have long walks, long looks or unimportant montages put together with some truly great songs from Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan and REO Speedwagon. But you can’t fake your way through a poorly edited movie by simply putting it to good music.
Ashton Kutcher does a fine job but for me he just doesn’t have that likable strong presence. Whether you think Jobs is bad or good, the character and emotional target points fell flat. Many of the characters seem to be glanced at with the most minor of importance within the film but given a pause in their introduction as though they were important in the story. We see this with the side by side screen shot of the actor’s portrayal and the real life person during the credits. We don’t really know the characters nor do we care. On a positive note, the orange pallet for the older time period fit nicely with the overall costuming and hair of a 70’s and 80’s generation without falling into the mocking it trap. And Josh Gad (LOVE & OTHER DRUGS, FROZEN) gives a strong performance as Jobs Apple partner Steve Wozniak with limited space.
After David Fincher’s brilliant SOCIAL NETWORK and Academy Award winning screenplay about another young jerky entrepreneur, JOBS looks like a coloring book that is struggling to stay inside the lines. But all the shortcomings of JOBS ultimately lies with Director Joshua Michael Stern (SWING VOTE), who unfortunately created an extremely flawed picture about a man who strived for perfection.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: (1080p 2.39:1) A good looking picture that captures the time period clearly.
Audio: (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The music and dialogue is blended together nicely.
Feature Commentary with Director Joshua Michael Stern: The director gives a very informative commentary about his process and the reasoning behind his choices and the story.
Deleted Scenes (3:31): Three scenes that don’t add much but give a little more redundant insight to his girlfriend and his daughter.
Ashton Kutcher is Steve Jobs (2:28): A quick montage in trailer form of people praising Ashton Kutcher’s performance.
The Legacy of Steve Jobs (2:47): Another trailer type feature advertising the film.
Jobs: Behind the Score (3:27): Composer John Debney and the director talk about the importance and creative process of finding the right music.