Steve Jobs is as amazing an innovator as they come. His ability to look past the possible and create something people themselves didn’t know they wanted is a rare gift only the best among us possess. Jobs the movie is mostly the opposite of that. Using The Social Network as a framework, Jobs throws much of the man’s life on the screen, sometimes with no real reason and (like the man’s life) feels unfinished and shortchanged. And there wasn’t even one mention of the iPhone.
Jobs tells the story of the Apple founder (played by Ashton Kutcher) from college through the invention of the iPod. Along the way, we learn about his friendship with Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad), his partnership with Mike Markkula (Dermot Mulroney) to fund Apple, and his fights with John Scully (Matthew Modine) and Arthur Rock (JK Simmons) for corporate control of his company. In addition, we get glimpses of how his ideas clashed with his personal life to create the man we knew today.
Jobs is at its best when it focuses on Steve Jobs creating and pitching his ideas. The enthusiasm from the cast members when involved in those parts of the story are the narrative driving force and should be given more of a study. The Steve Jobs set up by the film is a force of creativity, so a study of leaving people behind who get set in their ways or attempt to inhibit innovation would have been a very compelling story with a much tighter focus. In addition, the story could have given Jobs’s character a more satisfying arc to include newer creations like the iPhone or iPad showcasing how Steve learned to play well with others while still fostering a culture of ideas in his company.
Unfortunately, the screenplay feels like 2/3 of it was left on the cutting room floor; perhaps Jobs would have worked better as a miniseries. Any attempt to give Steve a life outside of Apple fails pretty amazingly. A teacher in the first 5 minutes gives Steve some advice and is never heard from again; his daughter Steve is convinced is not his own is shown asleep on his couch and never brought up again. His girlfriend who has his baby pleads for Steve to be involved about 30 minutes into the film and is never heard from again. Sensing a pattern? In a fear to probably incorporate as much of the biography as possible, Jobs takes fragments of compelling stories, introduces them, and hopes that will be enough for the audience at home. These side stories detract from the main narrative, which shortchanges the Apple computers story and forces it to take large jumps in years from event to event to seem more cohesive than Jobs actually lays them out.
Do not blame the disappointment of the film on Ashton Kutcher. To his credit, Kutcher nails the Jobs walk (I didn’t know it was a thing until I saw it) and usually finds the right note in his many scenes with outbursts. Kutcher is better than passable here, and I hope he uses this performance as a jumping off point to an interesting career. The rest of the cast was hired for comparable looks to their parts as opposed to their acting ability (Josh Gad: I’m looking at you) with a couple of exceptions. Dermot Mulroney is solid as Jobs’s investor, with a nicely drawn arc fully fleshed out by the actor. Lukas Haas is also good as a friend who has been left behind.
Jobs the movie is passable entertainment that leaves a large amount on the table. A better focused screenplay could have created a couple great films out of the Jobs biography, but instead we’re left with a half-formed story. Next time, also include an iPad and Bill Gates; most people find those things interesting.