"Jobs" Review - From a Car Enthusiast and Apple Diehard

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 08/28/2013 at 12:45 • Filed to: Jobs Movie, movies, reviews, oppositelock, jalopnik, mercedes

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Steve Jobs was probably one of the most influential figures in American history. So much, that his death got the attention usually reserved for superstars, actors, and leaders of civil rights movements. So, it was only a matter of time before someone was going to make a movie about him. Jobs is the first of two movies that will put his life on the big screen...

Being an Apple diehard I was more than extremely excited to see this movie, almost more than Marvel's Avengers. Unfortunately, when I left the theater I felt disappointed.

So why didn't a movie with so much potential leave me clapping and cheering at the end like so many superhero movies?

Like Steve Jobs himself, the movie is flawed. Why? Let me explain...

(It should be obvious that anything at this point can be a spoiler, but then again, since it's a biopic, are they really spoilers?)

First and foremost, Ashton Kutcher as Jobs was something I expected since he kinda has a hotshot attitude and the look of a young Steve Jobs. However, I think that's where the similarities end.

I also kind of hoped to see some cool references as well, like Jobs not having license plates on leased cars, or the creation of Pixar.

The movie opens with the unveiling of the iPod. The musical score, camera angles, and good acting on Kutcher's part help set a promising tone for the rest of the movie. Although for me, Ashton's voice ruins an otherwise believable scene.

The movie plows right into the action starting with college dropout Jobs exploring his interests, drugs, and a love interest. An important part of anyone's life, parents, are only briefly mentioned for thirty seconds at the most. It was just passed over so quickly it seems as if it wasn't even part of the script.

After getting really high, going to India, and having a revelation, Jobs and company decide to build a computer. From this point on in the movie, Jobs almost instantly becomes a genius and a visionary while everyone else gets depicted as weak and close minded. He also instantly becomes a super asshole as well. Throughout the rest of the movie he is seen throwing people under the bus and maintaining a god-like portrayal of knowing everything and being always right.

People close to Jobs (especially Wozniak) say that this portrayal of not only Jobs, but himself, and others, is almost as fictional as fiction can get.

Even worse, one of the greatest turning points in Jobs' career, NeXT, only gets maybe ten seconds or less of screen time. The story of NeXT and even the story of Xerox are absolute key points in Apple's history, and they were simply passed up!

In the end, Jobs is a fictional movie based on real life people and some real life events. Those looking to see Jobs' life played out on screen will be disappointed in just how inaccurate (offensive, even) this movie negatively depicts Jobs and crew. As Woz and other even say, the quotes that the characters often say aren't even close to being right.

However, if you forget the inaccuracies and just watch it like any other movie, it will be a good movie. It has an exceptional musical score and this is probably the best performance of Ashton's career. It even has edge of your seat drama.

But, since this movie was supposed to be a biopic of Jobs' life and not a movie about a guy and his dream, I cannot recommend this movie to anyone.

If I were a real movie critic, I'd give Jobs a "beige" rating of 2.5 out 5 stars. What you should really look for is Aaron Sorkin's Jobs biopic, which is bound to be incredibly accurate if not spot on. Jobs is like the Apple Newton, a great attempt, but you should really wait for the iPhone...

(Photo Credit: allthingsd.com)

Casper > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 12:47

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Steve Jobs was probably one of the most influential figures in American history.

LOL

For Sweden > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 12:48

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Steve Jobs was probably one of the most influential figures in American history.

I would call him one of the most influential marketers, but probably not among the most influential overall.

pdthedeuce > Casper 08/28/2013 at 12:49

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BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 12:51

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Best movie of Ashton's career? You've obviously never seen Butterfly Effect.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 12:58

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I couldn't continue reading after the the first sentence.

Mercedes Streeter > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 08/28/2013 at 13:00

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I have seen it and will agree it was a fantastic movie for Ashton. Hence why I said "...probably best performance...". Depends on who's judging I suppose.

Mercedes Streeter > Casper 08/28/2013 at 13:00

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Hmmm...I guess that was kinda obvious, huh? lol

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 13:04

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Fair enough.

Mercedes Streeter > For Sweden 08/28/2013 at 13:05

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I'd say yes and no. While Woz was part of the backbone at the start, Jobs did indeed have a heavy influence on future products. He was both a dreamer and a good marketer.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 13:06

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Take a step or 16 back from the fanboi Koolaid and re-read your review.

Mercedes Streeter > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 08/28/2013 at 13:16

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Other than calling Apple products trash I don't know how else I could rag on the movie...Good acting, crap script, depicts everyone as an asshole or loser...

NaturallyAspirated > For Sweden 08/28/2013 at 13:21

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I'm not much of an Apple fan personally, as in the last Mac I owned was a Powerbook G3, but I always think of The Woz as more of a "true" genius than Jobs. I know that smacks of No True Scotsman, but for some reason my brain likes to think that way. Maybe because The Woz seems like a cool introverted geek, similar to how I see myself.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 13:41

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What I'm suggesting is that your perspective is warped and tarnishing your view of the film, not that it's painting too rosy a picture.

You complain about not having certain events in the film, such as NeXT, but there are time constraints, storyline constraints, and constraints of the general movie-going public that often determine which "crucial" events make it into a script. I'd certainly consider NeXT to be a crucial part of his story, but there could be a variety of reasons (storyline continuity, difficulty presenting that elemtent in a concise manner, etc.) that it, and other parts you would have like to seen, were excluded.

As far as the part where he was depicted as an asshole, Woz and other folks at that level may paint a more favorable picture of Jobs, but there are plenty of people that work with, around, and for him that paint much the same picture as the movie does.

These movies are never black and white affairs, especially when you're adapting someone's life to a screenplay; it seems like you're upset with the decisions that were made when choosing forks in the road for screenplay writing purposes, and it's easy to read your background as a lover of all things Apple in that analysis.

Mercedes Streeter > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 08/28/2013 at 14:10

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Ah, that makes more sense. In that case, I accept your criticism. This is why I don't actually review movies...But I thought it would've been fun to pass time yapping about a recent movie going experience.

And yes, while I do love all things Apple, I'm not one of those stereotypical "higher than thou" Apple users either. I have to give props to Google for Android and I believe the Galaxy S4 is the phone the iPhone 5 should've been. And of course, I still use Windows for the vast variety of programs (and games) that simply aren't available for the OSX platform.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 14:23

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Really not trying to harp, merely observing that your observations/criticisms weren't surprising for someone who considers themselves to be into Apple products. Concessions have to be made for movies of any sort, especially ones that want to make, you know, money, so the enthusiast of any type generally comes away feeling let down.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 14:29

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Jobs was the Thomas Edison of our time, a douchebag salesman and opportunist taking credit for the work of the Nicholas Tesla's in this world.

You might be lost, Apple Insider is that way ——> .

Mercedes Streeter > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 08/28/2013 at 14:33

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No problem, I like constructive criticism. Sometimes when you're wearing the rosy shades sometimes you fail to see the point or logic in something.

No doubt, had they included everything and made it as accurate as possible it could've ended up being more of a documentary as long as The Dart Knight Rises.
Still, with all the hype that surrounded this movie, I kinda hoped for something a little more. At the very least, it's an inspiring movie, like "Tucker: The Man and His Dream"

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 14:39

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Hey, at least there's still a good chance left in Sorkin's take, although apparently it's going to be set on a real-time timeline, which should be interesting.

Mercedes Streeter > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. 08/28/2013 at 14:45

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That's actually a pretty great description, I can't argue with that.

I'm a diehard, yes, but even I know he wasn't a saint. Poor Woz never got much credit for his hard work.

Casper > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 14:46

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The entire company of Apple hasn't been most influential anything. They were one of many, only ever a small percentage of their respective markets, and had few hits among many failures.

It's the cult that pushes this idealistic view of their achievements.

Mercedes Streeter > Casper 08/28/2013 at 15:07

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Well, there was the iPod, which pretty much launched the whole MP3 player era (no, it wasn't the first, but it was the one that made them popular), and the iPhone, which did to smartphones what the iPod did to MP3 players.

But yep, you're right, currently Apple holds a very tiny slice of the smartphone market, a respectable slice of the computer market, another respectable slice of the tablet market, and pretty nice majority of the music player market.

And doubly agree as well, if it weren't for the cult, Apple would be no more popular than Microsoft was back then.

syrgrad91 > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 16:04

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I haven't seen the movie yet, so I'm going to reserve judgement, however, the things he did after leaving Apple (specifically NeXT) are just as important. If it weren't for NeXT and the NeXTStep OS, Apple would have died an ugly death. I joined Apple about a year after Steve returned to the company. At the time I didn't realize how close the company was to folding, but Steve managed to turn the sinking ship around. I am a die hard Apple fanboy and at the time I was hired I was really resistant to using the new OS, which was essentially a reskinned version of NeXTStep. But that OS (along with great product designs) helped revive the company. Without NeXTStep, the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and AppleTV would never have existed (iOS is a stripped down version of Mac OS X).

syrgrad91 > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 16:13

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I guess this is a good example of how wrong they got it. 'THINK' is an IBM slogan and has been around since 1911. The original Think Pad was literally a pad of paper with the word THINK imprinted on the cover. Apple's 'Think Different' campaign, which many people argue was in response to IBM's slogan, didn't happen until his return in 1997.

Mercedes Streeter > syrgrad91 08/28/2013 at 16:13

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Careful, "thems fightin' words" around here (and Reddit).

Nice to see some backup around here. I mean sure, Woz did the hard stuff starting out and probably didn't get the recognition he deserved, but all things considered, Jobs is no less a visionary and genius himself.

Shoot, with how quickly the Android platform is growing, Jobs would've never let the iPhone 5 release without some revolutionary party trick.

Mercedes Streeter > syrgrad91 08/28/2013 at 16:16

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EDIT: Ha, that "THINK" photo was indeed real! :)

syrgrad91 > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 16:18

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Unfortunately, in my haste, I found a photo of Steve with a similar poster behind him. Strange that he allowed it, but at the time, IBM wasn't a threat to Apple.

Mercedes Streeter > syrgrad91 08/28/2013 at 16:24

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Wow, that picture almost makes me cringe at the Kutcher version. Looks as if Ashton forced that pose. Jobs looks pretty chill in that photo...

Casper > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 16:34

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Apple has been losing PC ground after their tiny rally and is back down around 7%.
http://www.dazeinfo.com/2012/12/14/win…

They have also been losing massive ground every year in the phone market since they begin facing competition:

The impact of Apple is minimal. They had a few hits, but nothing revolutionary. The reality is that had they not existed, it would have been simply one of the other existing competitors who would have probably been struck it lucky with the right mix.

Milky > Casper 08/28/2013 at 17:20

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PC's are just minivans with sliding disk drives.

But really thats like saying Mercedes is nothing with their only 2% market share, even though they are essentially market leaders .

Casper > Milky 08/28/2013 at 17:22

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What are you talking about? Comparing automotive market segments to tech segments is like comparing apples to kittens. The fragmentation differences alone are incredible.

There is also the matter of Mercedes working as a technical originator and Apple generally being a re-packager. If computers were cars, Apple would be Lincoln currently.

Milky > Casper 08/28/2013 at 17:23

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Makes about as much sense as this.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/its-a-minivan-…

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Casper > Milky 08/28/2013 at 17:25

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Yes, and you were just as confused over there.

Milky > Casper 08/28/2013 at 17:28

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Seems like you understand your tech segments as much as you understand car classes.

Casper > Milky 08/28/2013 at 17:29

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Don't be mad at me because you like the idea of driving a minivan.

Mercedes Streeter > Casper 08/28/2013 at 17:33

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39% of the market (as compared 9% for Microsoft and others) is not bad, especially considering how large the market is.

And according to profit margins, even though Apple has a smaller share, iOS remains more profitable than Android.

Remember, the bulk of Android phones sold are cheapo free handsets, no contract services, or cheap contract phones.

Apple is holding 39% with just the iPhone 5, 4S, and 4. If it weren't for cheap phones, Android wouldn't have anywhere near the market share they have now.

That said, I still highly respect the Android (and Linux) operating system and think it has the potential to take over the world in the right hands.

Mercedes Streeter > Milky 08/28/2013 at 17:35

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And like saying that Mercedes hasn't done anything worth noting...

Milky > Casper 08/28/2013 at 17:35

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Not mad, just trying to help people who can't understand size. I guess I'll go tell a couple of my friends that they are driving sedan minivans around.

Casper > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 17:37

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It's bad when you consider they had over 90% at one point, were the first to monopolize the new segment, and have only lost ground even while holding the majority of patents.

Android has the market in all price ranges (Samsung SIIIs and IVs have been crushing Apples sales). The problem for Apple is that they are doing what Microsoft is doing... coasting on hype/wealth. The difference is that Microsoft is entrenched as the defacto source of business tools where as Apple has more fad based markets.

The point is that they are hardly earth shattering. If they don't turn things around, in 30 years no one will know anything about them and they will fade back to obscurity. Remember, if the ipod hadn't taken off, they would be bankrupt. Jobs psychotic nature was the power behind the company, not the company it's self. To say Steve Jobs was one of the most influential people in history is crazy. There have been far more influential people even in like business segments, but no one knows anything about them because the fad items they created fell from glory.

Casper > Milky 08/28/2013 at 17:40

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Yep, this

looks nothing like

Mercedes Streeter > Casper 08/28/2013 at 17:45

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Now that is something we both can agree with. I freaking love the innovations in Galaxy phones and they should've put Tim Cook on alert. Jobs would've made the iPhone 5 completely out of glass or something crazy like that.

Instead Apple just made the phone bigger, faster, and a little more pretty...

Indeed, Apple needs some fresh ideas if they want to stave off the inevitable Android takeover.

Casper > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 17:47

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Exactly. I think we basically agreed. I was in disagreement with the role of Jobs in history. He will be forgotten relatively quickly as the fanboys age and move on to new toys.

Milky > Casper 08/28/2013 at 17:49

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Just about as much as this:

Looking like this:

BTW, you suck at making points. I just read this whole thread and it started off by generally positive about Jobs. Then you went on to talk crap about Apple and end with " Jobs psychotic nature was the power behind the company...."

Casper > Milky 08/28/2013 at 17:50

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Jobs was essentially psychotic. That's why he was so good at leading Apple and pushing people to do what he wanted. There are entire studies about it.

Mercedes Streeter > Casper 08/28/2013 at 17:57

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Pretty much every "celebrity" goes that way. Everyone eventually forgets. Nobody ever talks about Michael Jackson anymore and he was a pretty big deal.

Milky > Casper 08/28/2013 at 18:05

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Yes, and I understand that. If you also understand that, why did you make a negative comment about Apple to -

"I'd say yes and no. While Woz was part of the backbone at the start, Jobs did indeed have a heavy influence on future products. He was both a dreamer and a good marketer."

That just doesn't make any sense.

I agree with you but here is negative remark!!

Casper > Milky 08/28/2013 at 22:52

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I'm confused. I said the company of Apple hadn't been most influential anything in history. They are a below average company with far more failures than successes under their belt and nearly went bankrupt several times... one of which is the reason Jobs came back.

Jobs was an impressive leader, but not "one of the most influential figures in American history" and Apple was certainly far less relevant to the world than most other large tech companies of the modern era.

Casper > Mercedes Streeter 08/28/2013 at 22:53

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Thank god.