Jobs - 2 smiles

I would have liked “Jobs” to be more. Instead, what we get is a standard bio-pic with a few nice moments, but you don’t get a sense of who Steve Jobs was. And, unfortunately, I don’t know whether Ashton Kutcher’s performance was effective or not because all I could see on the screen was Ashton Kutcher. Writers Matt Whiteley and director Joshua Michael Stern try to cover more than 25 years in a 2-hour movie, which is a mistake. As Lincoln so well illustrated, the best way to bring a real-life figure to the screen is to depict a specific, limited period of his life. Cherry-picking incidents rarely works since that approach often leads to a sense of superficiality. So while we get a vague sense of what makes Jobs tick, his charisma and drive are constants, we’re left with only a choppy understanding of the chronology of his life.

“Jobs” starts slowly and the early scenes pretty much fly by as we’re introduced to a teenage version of the man while at Reed College. With his best friend of the time, Daniel Kottke (Lukas Haas), he drops acid, talks pretentiously and visits India. Upon his return, he forms a partnership with electronics wunderkind Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad) and begins to make computers. Apple is born in Steve’s parents’ garage and, with the capital provided by investor Mike Markkula (Dermot Mulroney), quickly expands into a major force in the fledgling industry. By 1984, Jobs finds himself in trouble with Apple’s board of directors and, by the end of 1986, he’s out. Ten years later, Apple comes begging for Jobs’ return. More politically savvy and understanding of corporate politics, he returns, transforming a financially struggling company into the Goliath it is today. Great men don’t always have great lives and part of the problem with “Jobs” could be that simple. On the other hand, the movie hasn’t figured out how to portray greatness. Jobs was a compelling figure, but compelling doesn’t describe the movie. 8/16/13