November 3, 2015

By Tiffany Skelnik

Steve Jobs, directed by Danny Boyle, is a biopic of the Apple CEO who changed the face of technology. It stars Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs, Seth Rogen as his friend and business partner Steve Wozniak, Kate Winslet as Jobs’ “work-wife” Joanna Hoffman and actresses Makenzie Moss, Ripley Sobo and Perla Haney-Jardine who share the role of Lisa Brennan, Jobs’ daughter, at ages five, nine and nineteen respectively.

The film focuses on Steve Jobs’ work on the Mac computer by breaking the process into three distinct acts: the unveiling of the first Macintosh, the unveiling of the NeXT Cube and the launch of the iMac.

In each act, Jobs is visited by his daughter Lisa. These visits give the viewer an exclusive look into the tumultuous relationship between Jobs and his daughter. Steve Jobs as a film doesn’t hesitate to show the legendary Steve Jobs in a variety of angles. The portrayal shows Jobs in his most demanding moments, with Fassbender often shouting his lines in frenzy.

The performances in this film were riveting. Michael Fassbender takes on Jobs’ persona, going from the over-the-top and deliberate perfectionism of the businessman to the struggling father. The scenes he shares with Seth Rogen particularly stand out. Throughout these scenes, Fassbender demonstrates Jobs’ pride as the question of whether or not Jobs will credit the other people behind Apple II at his various launches arises. Rogen and Fassbender engage in verbal disputes that will keep viewers glued to the screen. Fassbender holds this momentum with other costars as well.

The scenes with the younger actresses that portray Lisa Brennan show the other side of Fassbender’s performance, providing the gentlest moments of the biopic. Jobs’ relationship with Lisa takes center stage and the scenes that Fassbender shares with Moss and Sobo carefully demonstrate this. Jobs rejoices over five-year-old Lisa’s use of MacPaint and discusses a song on nine-year-old Lisa’s walkman. Moss and Sobo are endearing and play their role in a way that allows Lisa’s love of her father to shine through.

When Haney-Jardine steps into the role of Lisa, the viewer sees an evolution in the relationship between Jobs and Lisa as she realizes the true extent of her father’s behavior toward others. Haney-Jardine portrays the hurt that Lisa feels, rivaling her costar in a sharp delivery of words.

The film Steve Jobs is well crafted and provides an interesting perspective on the man that accomplished so much and taught the world to “think differently”. I would definitely recommend it.

skeltiff@my.dom.edu