Making A Dent In The Universe

Jobs:
            A Genius, a Revolutionary, a Nerd, an Innovator, a Business Man, a Go-Getter, and then Steve Jobs. All of these first, himself second, and yet his world was made up of nothing more. Everyone knows his story for the most part. He founded one of the biggest technological companies in the world starting out of his parents' garage and gained a reputation to be one of the shrewdest, cruelest businessmen the world had ever seen. Steve Jobs became more than anyone ever expected and taught himself how to talk up what he was walking up. Ashton Kutcher delivers the best performance of his career thus far and really turns heads as he portrays the titan that was Steve Jobs. The only drawback was the film that he found himself acting in, but we'll get to that in a little bit.

            Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote) headed up the project of directing Jobs but credit has to be given to his casting team. The sole aspect that made this film entirely watchable was Ashton Kutcher putting on the act of lashing out at subordinates and screaming on the phone at a rival billionaire all while wearing the blue jeans, lame tennis shoes, and trimmed beard that made up the man that made his mark in the universe. Without giving anything away, the opening scene itself made me question if we were watching an old video of Jobs or if it was just Mr. Kutcher. Well okay, enough about the Punk'd host for now and maybe a little about what this film was all about.

            Apple Computers started very small with only 5 employees that could not even be paid in cash but they had one thing the other competitors did not, Steve Jobs. This film revolves around how and why Jobs left college to pursue bigger things, like calligraphy and acid, and then pulled some business skills out of his back pocket and became an icon. Josh Gad (Love and Other Drugs) plays the other half of Jobs' success, Steve "Woz" Wozniak. Whenever Jobs was in a bind with what he was selling, Woz was there to helping him sort out the bugs. I'd like to go on the record saying Josh Gad should be on watch by the members of The Academy for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Not necessarily saying he'll get it but that he should not be overshadowed by the weak plot of this film. Along side Kutcher, Gad is spot on as Apple's second father and is near flawless in his portrayal. J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man), Dermot Mulroney (Zodiac), and Matthew Modine (The Dark Knight Rises) are all fellow business men that are out for Jobs' throat and make up a decent supporting cast as well.

            Now I guess is as good a time as any to address the physical being of the film; it's plot. There's not much to say besides how good the acting is by the two stars and, oh yeah, the years jump around like rabbits and details are left hanging. One can imagine how disappointing this could be especially in a movie about someone who became so prominent in our lifetimes even if he was rather cold-blooded. An analogy for the non-viewer reading this prior to buying a ticket would be that Jobs is The Social Network with a more realistic star, just as good character-wise, but with a weaker, less thought-provoking plot. Hats off to Ashton Kutcher and his memorable performance but it is a shame it had to be set apart from the film itself due to nothing more than lack of detail. Hashtag RIPSteveJobs. Grade: 6.6/10