I saw Steve Jobs last night and was very entertained.
It's not Sorkin-bait quite as much as The Newsroom, but it's got all the classic Sorkin elements that fans will love. Like so many Sorkin stories, it's a portrait of a great, flawed man, and the people in his life professional and personal lives. The dialogue is, as always, a lot of fun, and there are plenty of zingers flying around. One departure from the rest of Sorkin's work is the structure of the film, which unfolds like a three act play, across three particular product launches over a 14 year period in his life. This is a bold and effective choice, because for me at least, biopics tend to get bogged down by the clutter of covering too much of the subject's life. The three-launch structure keeps Steve Jobs focused on the the man's larger-than-life strengths and flaws, which come across in his interactions with his colleagues and family. Fassbender, Winslet, Daniels and Rogen all give terrific, nuanced performances.
The performances, and the film overall, are very theatrical. I can see a quite good play coming out of this, if only Sorkin could work on polishing the final scenes of the last act just a little. Without spoiling anything (for those of us that know less about the life of Jobs), I felt a little let down that a film for 90 minutes relentlessly cross-examined the Steve Jobs' flaws, takes a marked step back in the last two or three scenes, softening on his portrayal a great deal - to put it kindly.
I'd be interested to hear how Sorkin's critics on his writing of female characters view this film. It certainly doesn't pass the Bechdel test, and I think the fact that all the female characters' lives, even Kate Winslet's character's, revolve around Jobs, may attract more criticism.
I give the film a solid 4/5, as solid entertainment that I think most people would enjoy. Sorkin should try and work with Danny Boyle a lot more. They're a match made in heaven.
