This is quite possibly the most pretentious, and yet most likely truthful, depiction of Steve Jobs. There's definitely a rushed quality to the entire production, since this film came out shortly after Jobs' death, but it still feels like a legitimate bio-pic. Still, its lack of vision shows in its lame performances. The beginning of the film shows a mellow, advantageous Jobs, who doesn't wear shoes and is offered rainbow colored tabs of acid in a country field where he watches the stars. He's a sullen genius who won't get a college degree and yet hangs around Reed College, learning calligraphy and philosophy, which of course makes him a hipster's dream date. As the story speeds along, this sweet faced portrayal morphs, and we meet the contentious Jobs: the obsessive man who used everyone who loved him in order to climb the ladder and become the huge prick he would eventually become. He doesn't give any respect to Apple's founding members, he doesn't acknowledge his daughter, and he acts like everyone around him are idiots. To the movie's credit, that is not the afterglow portrayal of the wunderkind Steve Jobs that everyone was expecting. Though there is that negative view, he is also shown as a genius, smarter than everyone around him, including his own staff. He is also shown to be smarter than his entire board, who only seem to want to make money rather than follow their delusional founder down the rabbit hole. The beginning, which should have been the end, is a flash forward to the Jobs we know now. In the end, we still haven't gotten to that point, and so we end with this ham-fisted version of Jobs, who only seems to care about himself even after a film that tries to show he changed. Though I give applause for the way things were handled, the film was still structured poorly, and everything about this production was pure ham.

The Man. The Myth. The Polo Sweater. Cult-declared Apple founder Steve Jobs was barely laid to rest before Hollywood initiated the transfer of his life to the silver screen. Sacrilege or not, he won't be turning too askew in his grave. Half a rotation possibly, but it could have been far worse. The depiction of the digital pioneer is, for the most part, serviceable and interesting. Jobs is played by Ashton "Dude, Where's My Car?" Kutcher, which beforehand felt like a somewhat laughable choice. Something has transpired since his stoner days though. He has grown, even inhabits the role quite well, despite a strange, remarkably forced adoption of Jobs' peculiar walking style. Kutcher is moreover a striking look-a-like. The worm in the apple is not the acting, but the shallowness in the portrayal. The film reflects many facets of its titular figure - the passion, the egomania, the dictatorial tendencies - but rather gives the impression of a list being checked off than an inspired study of a complex visionary soul. The college years are diddled away. The family subjects barely paid a thought. At the same time it wants to be moving, but achieves a mere so-so effect with its violin-playing over-sentimentality. The upside, which makes it worthwhile, is the entertainment value in the journey. From circuit board-tinkering in the parents' garage to board meetings in fancy offices. Personally, I've never owned an Apple product. Neither iPhone or iMac. But it doesn't really matter here. Steve Jobs, the man and creative trailblazer, doesn't evoke any less fascination. Just a shame I can't put any dots over the i's in "innovation icon". https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mikes-Movie-Reviews/281824101875153?ref=hl