Steve Jobs- Perfection Made Human

There is a Steve Jobs we know and a Steve Jobs we read about. On one hand, there is the rebellious, eccentric and heroic entrepreneur who broke ground rules of computing and gadgetry, created a much-loved technology giant and inspires millions with his never-say-die attitude, even beyond the grave. On the other is a more complex portrait- a difficult leader, an even more insufferable team member and a flawed man with a sketchy past who simply did not tolerate anything less than perfection.

The best part about Danny Boyle’s turbo-charged character portrait of this lauded and controversial figure, penned superbly by Aaron Sorkin, is that it explores both these dimensions- both the shiny and the sketchy- both the gleaming, flawless surfaces and the bewildering tangle of wires inside the man who taught us how gadgets could be both fun and art.

‘Steve Jobs’, therefore, does not act out like a textbook biopic as one would expect- it skimps gleefully, bravely on Jobs’ bare beginnings, his garage partnership with best friend Steve Wozniak or even his way of spouting ideas for the legendary products that he rolled out. Rather, this is a tense, little character study, filmed and acted to perfection, and yet at heart about a really, really intriguing character at its crux.

Sorkin is the man who re-imagined the origins of Facebook as a feverish dream born out of alcohol-fueled frustrations of social alienation at college. This time his clean-cut and incisive narrative strikes harder in envisioning its titular wunderkind as an urban Caesar through three momentous occasions of his life.

It would be safe to say how much Boyle explores the behind-the-scenes psyche behind both the man and his creations. The film begins in 1984, amidst the hotly awaited launch of the Macintosh, Jobs’ pet project which would go on to bomb in the market. We see Jobs fussing over (of all things) the voice-demo that can make the product launch a real stunner. ‘Fix it’, he orders tersely, brutally to his chief engineer Andy Hertzfield, who can only look at this tyrant of a visionary with bewildered eyes through chunky glasses.

The Jobs of the movie is not exactly the smiling, tongue-in-cheek portrait of the man that we love so much. Sure, this Steve has a smart, fast mouth but barbs flow out of it instead of wisecracks. We see Jobs with an ice-cold resolve to get it all right- from the big details to the little quirks (his insistence to have all the exit lights dimmed for a greater impact)- and the way he lashes out, sizing up Hertzfield by threats of humiliation, sparring with his trusty marketing manager Joanna Hoffman over the pricing and often waxing eloquent about all his visions.

Sorkin has an assured gift for words and Boyle uses them as the main pyrotechnics in the film’s hurtling narrative as we see people around Jobs, from his technicians, to his peers and his seniors to even his friends and family all crumble before the sheer demanding facade of this self-made man. The film revels in the emotionally tense chaos of these verbose confrontations all set before the three main product launches depicted and the characters seize it all to set the stage on fire.

Yet, the bravest move that ‘Steve Jobs’ takes is how it often explores the twisted monster behind the iconic inventor. There are great depths of narcissism in this Jobs, the way he snarls on learning that TIME Magazine did not pick him for the cover, or the way he refuses to acknowledge his own creation as a possible failure on all counts. ‘Musicians play their music, I play the orchestra’, he announces at one point. There is also a murkier side to this man- revealed blankly in his fears of alienation stemming from his own adopted childhood- a fact that Sorkin and Boyle use perceptively to explain some of the man’s determination to prove his worth.

However, as said earlier, the film does not shy in celebrating Jobs the visionary and this is where Boyle infuses the film with real heart and soul. Steve might not have a ‘Rosebud’-like some sign of a childhood or youth (hell, he even does not spare his vitriolic outbursts to best chum Steve Wozniak as well.) but he sure has a conscience. That throbs in the form of his illegitimate daughter Lisa, a girl he sees grow up from a little 5-year old musing about her name to a fully-grown girl realizing his faults. It is a masterstroke of narrative storytelling and Sorkin and Boyle relish every opportunity to let this outsider to the jargon-filled chaos unveil the tender core beneath the perfection-obsessed tyrant. Also, we might never completely side with a man like this; but beneath those icy eyes, we see the honest resolve of a man willing to change the world.

Boyle, a gifted visual stylist, buttons his trademark flourishes down for this mostly precise narrative but ‘Steve Jobs’ also revels in its visual portrayal of the twisted circuits behind the inventions and his inventor. Choosing to film the three pivotal launches- the Macintosh, the Black Cube and the wildly successful iMac- in contrasting film formats (with the aid of regular Alwyn Kutchler)-the director tells us a vision of the eponymous visionary that burgeons as the narrative gathers unprecedented depths. The way he captures the three events in the story are perceptive and ingenious- a smoothly orchestrated long-shot connects the narrative timelines, the film hushes sneakily at moments of reflection with a seething tension; in one instance, while in another- a soaringly spectacular moment- we see Jobs at his finest- speaking volumes about how he is all poised to change the world and how the people will understand it.

Kate Winslet is absolutely stellar as Joanna Hoffman, crafting a formidable equal, in terms of wordplay and forceful gravitas. Here is a person that Steve finds closest to a confidante- the one on whom he shoves his frustrations with the imperfections within himself and in the world around and crucially the same who eventually sizes him up and compels him to face the reality. Pretty much everyone is spot-on as the various actors on the fringes of Jobs’ life- in particular Jeff Daniels as a surprisingly affable John Sculley, who switches from foe to unlikely father figure and Seth Rogen as Wozniak, increasingly exasperated over Jobs’ self-centered obsessions as well as his stubborn refusal to acknowledge the Apple 2 team. He is also responsible for a great reference to The Beatles, admitting that he is tired of being a ‘Ringo’ instead of being a ‘John’. Jobs, in typical Sorkin-style snap, replies back, ‘Everybody loves Ringo’.

Yet, it would be a grave injustice not to give credit to the man handling the reins of this film. Michael Fassbender might not look like Jobs- hell, he does not even have the famous smile that Ashton Kutcher got so well in that bland 2013 biopic- but as he starts ripping through the shreds of the man’s smooth veneer, barking the fiery dialogues with a sadistic relish, trying his best to be an utter scumbag even as people match up to his expectations, he totally grabs our attention. And that is not all. From fussing over the picture of a shark for a launch demo to indulgently pursuing his fervent obsessions, down right to the poignant admission that he is ‘poorly made’, he eventually becomes the famous man, armed with that self-destructive zeal and yet worth rooting for, even with his failings. It is a performance of energy, slithery brutality and even unexpected tenderness.

‘Steve Jobs’ ends with Jobs, finally making the computer that would relaly transform lives- after two earlier attempts that only revealed his shortcomings. By then, the man is older, wiser and a better version of his fiery youth but he has lost none of his demanding obsession for innovation that eventually fuels him to success and glory. Like all thrilling unconventional biopics, Boyle’s film is honest in its study but in the celebratory climax, we are all happy to side with Steve, awed by his genius, willing to forgive him. Few films can manage to do such a trick- balancing wide-eyed adoration and scathing criticism with a finesse that rivals even the arty perfection of an iPhone in your palm.

My Rating- 5 Stars.