Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.
Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs is a formally audacious biographical drama structured entirely across three real-time backstage sequences, giving it a theatrical, almost Sorkin-stage-play distinctiveness that sets it apart from conventional biopics. Michael Fassbender delivers a commanding, layered performance as Jobs, anchored by exceptional supporting work from Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen. Aaron Sorkin's sharp, rapid-fire screenplay crackles with wit and intellectual energy, though its rigidly schematic structure means the emotional arcs feel somewhat mechanical and the plot never fully escapes its theatrical constraints. Cinematography is serviceable and deliberately shifts film stocks across decades but doesn't reach the level of visual poetry Boyle has achieved elsewhere. The ending attempts emotional catharsis with the father-daughter reconciliation but feels rushed and overly tidy given the film's otherwise unsparing portraiture.