Film review: Steve Jobs biopic is hard work to watch

Jobs
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Matthew Modine
Directed by: Joshua Michael Stern
Category: IIA

This biopic of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs veers between an advertisement for the company and a hagiography of its subject. Although the actors give their all, there simply isn't enough of a story in this version of Jobs' rise, fall and rise to make for an engaging film.

In reality Jobs changed the way that we use computers and phones and that, in turn, changed the way we live. His personal and family life was not without drama, and his Machiavellian nature and corporate battles could, in the hands of a better behind-the-camera team, have ignited some fiery drama. But Jobs displays the man's life as a tale of mundane personal flaws and endless boardroom scenes that, unthinkably, make the viewer yearn for a dose of Donald Trump's hilarious bad taste to liven things up.

The film starts with a moment of triumphant expectation - Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) presenting the first iPod to Apple employees who whoop and almost weep when he does so. It then flashes back to show him walking out of college, working at Atari and then co-founding Apple with tech genius Steve "Woz" Wozniak (Josh Gad).

The filmmakers take the easy angle with the story: Jobs has a vision which no one else can understand, and if only those guys in suits would get out of the way and let him carry out his idea the world would benefit from using his revolutionary personal computers. The film pursues this line for slightly over two hours, with little humour, nuance or deviation. Yes, Jobs is a bit odd and has a mean streak, yes, he has good business sense and, yes, he knows that damn computer should be selling better than it is. But other than that, there is little in the way of character development.

Short scenes make the early days move along quickly in an impressionistic style. But after Apple becomes more successful, Jobs gets bogged down in boardroom escapades which show Jobs ousted from his own company before he is finally recalled to save it.

The cast members give their all in the boardroom scenes and Matthew Modine (as marketing expert John Scully) and Dermot Mulroney (as investor Mike Markulla) turn in vibrant performances as the suits. But while lead actor Kutcher has got Jobs' more notable characteristics down and looks startlingly like his ungainly subject in the later scenes, he brings little chiaroscuro to his portrayal, which is either mean and nasty or oppressed and hurt.

Steve Jobs devotees will delight in the cheerleading speeches and Apple fans will enjoy the faithful representations of the company's early computers, which are reportedly very accurate. But the scenes in this film become increasingly pat and reek of audience manipulation, something that's accentuated by a swelling score that tries to reduce the boardroom boredom with a dramatic backing.

In addition, the flat narrative will make others wonder what all the fuss about Steve Jobs was about, and most will come away with no clue as to what made the tech giant tick.

48hours@scmp.com

Jobs opens on September 19