| Jobs | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joshua Michael Stern |
| Written by | Matt Whiteley |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Russell Carpenter |
| Edited by | Robert Komatsu |
| Music by | John Debney |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Open Road Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 129 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $12 million[1] |
| Box office | $42.1 million[1] |
Jobs is a 2013 Americanbiographicaldrama film based on the life ofSteve Jobs, from 1974 while a student atReed College to the introduction of theiPod in 2001.[2] It is directed byJoshua Michael Stern, written by Matt Whiteley, and produced by Stern and Mark Hulme. Steve Jobs is portrayed byAshton Kutcher, withJosh Gad asApple Computer's co-founderSteve Wozniak.Jobs was chosen to close the2013 Sundance Film Festival.[3][4]
InReed College, in 1974, the high tuition costs forceSteve Jobs to drop out, but Dean Jack Dudman allows him to sit in on classes. Jobs is particularly interested in acalligraphy course. Influenced byBaba Ram Dass's bookBe Here Now and their experiences withLSD, Jobs and his friendDaniel Kottke spend time inIndia. His philosophical ideas lead Jobs to the decisionnot to wear any footwear.
Two years later, Jobs is back inLos Altos, California, living with his adoptive parents Paul and Clara. While working forAtari, Inc. as avideo game developer, Jobs develops a partnership with his friendSteve "Woz" Wozniak. Jobs is charged by his bossAl Alcorn to re-developarcade video gameBreakout, which he ends up having Wozniak build in his place. The job is such a success that Alcorn presents it to PresidentNolan Bushnell, but Jobs inequitably distributes the salary forBreakout's development between Wozniak and himself.
Later, Jobs discovers that Wozniak built a prototype for theApple I, a "personalhome computer" which he expresses interest in commercializing. They name their new companyApple Computer. After a failed sale at his employer companyHP, Wozniak reluctantly demonstrates the Apple I at theHomebrew Computer Club to a bored audience. Jobs is later approached by store ownerPaul Terrell who shows interest in the Apple I. Jobs persuades his father Paul to let them set up their new company in the family's garage workshop. Jobs also recruits Kottke, fellow engineerBill Fernandez, and young neighborChris Espinosa to the Apple team.[5]
Terrell's disappointment in the Apple I (in his opinion, being only amotherboard and not a full computer as promised), inspires Jobs to restart with a second model. He hiresRod Holt to re-conceptualize thepower supply for what will be called theApple II. Venture capitalistMike Markkula notices Jobs and Wozniak's work, and also joins Apple. The Apple II is released at the 1977West Coast Computer Faire, where it is a success.
Apple's success causes Jobs to distance himself from his friends. Upon learning that his high-school girlfriendChrisann Brennan is pregnant, Jobs ends their relationship. Brennan gives birth toLisa, whom Jobs denies is his child. Kottke (now anApple II Plus repairer) meanwhile leaves the company after acknowledging that Jobs (who hardly even has any time to talk to him) is not rewarding the Apple I team with any Applestock.John Sculley is recruited as CEO of the company. As Jobs' behavior grows more erratic, Jobs is moved from theApple Lisa development team to theMacintosh Group, where he works with Bill Atkinson,Burrell Smith, Chris Espinosa, andAndy Hertzfeld. Despite the change, his behavior does not change: he forces outJef Raskin, the original Macintosh group leader, and then takes his place. Later, he phonesMicrosoft founderBill Gates, legally threatening him because theirWord software is, in his opinion, a plagiarism of Apple'sword processor. Wozniak, still part of theApple IIe team, decides to leave the company, feeling that it has lost its way.
Though theMacintosh is introduced with great fanfare in 1984, includinga high-budget commercial, it is seen as a failure due to the disproportionately high cost (as compared toIBM PC compatibles). Jobs, convinced that the error is the limitedrandom-access memory of the system, launchesa more advanced version, but Sculley forces him out of the company in 1985.
In 1996, Jobs is married toLaurene Powell and has accepted Lisa as his daughter (she now lives with them). He has a son, Reed, and also runsNeXT. When Apple buys NeXT, then-CEOGil Amelio asks Jobs to return to Apple as a consultant. Jobs is named the new CEO, fires Amelio and relieves the Board of Directors. Jobs becomes interested in the work ofJony Ive, particularly during the design of theiMac and strives to reinvent Apple. Jobs later records thedialogue for theThink Different commercial in 1997. In 2001, Steve Jobs introduces theiPod at an Apple Town Hall meeting.[6]
Screenwriter Matt Whiteley began work on the screenplay around the time Steve Jobs took medical leave from Apple to battle pancreatic cancer.[7] Director Joshua Michael Stern stated in an interview that all material for the screenplay was collected via research and interviews:
Mark Hulme, our producer, had an expert team of researchers to comb through all public records and interviews that had anything to do with Steve Jobs. Mark, the screenwriter and the research team, also took it upon themselves to interview quite a large pool of people who either worked at Apple or worked with Steve to make sure we portrayed as accurate a portrait and telling of the events possible within the constraints of the film's length.[8]
Production began in June 2012 at Jobs' childhood home inLos Altos, California, with the help of Jobs' stepmother, Marilyn Jobs (who still lives there).[9] It was also observed by his sister Patricia.[10] The majority of the film was shot in theLos Angeles region.[7][11]Russell Carpenter was the cinematographer.[12]
In August 2012, production moved toNew Delhi andVrindavan in order to provide the setting for Jobs'1974 trek to India. Locations include "Delhi'sJama Masjid, theHauz Khas Complex,Safdarjung Tomb andHumayun's Tomb."[11][13] Aseem Bajaj (Bandit Queen,Chameli, andKhoya Khoya Chand) served as cinematographer for scenes shot in India, though cinematographer Russell Carpenter went to India as well. Bajaj notes that they "shot guerrilla style in the crazy and mad by-lanes ofChandni Chowk in Old Delhi. We shot near theRed Fort and the famous Jama Masjid for two full days with multiple cameras spread across everywhere. Ashton stood frozen with the chaos staring right in his face which helped us capture what Steve Jobs must have felt on his visit to India."[12][14]
TheBusiness Insider described the film's opening as abox-office bomb, earning $6.7 million in its first weekend and placing seventh overall.[15]
It had a worldwide gross of $42.1 million against its $12 million budget,[1] making the film a modest box office success.
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 27% of 131 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "An ambitious but skin-deep portrait of an influential, complex figure,Jobs often has the feel of an over-sentimentalized made-for-TV biopic."[16]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[17] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[18]
E! Online said, "Critics have taken the film to task for a reach that falls far short of its ambition, marred by its superficial and unsatisfying portrait of an icon who deserved better."[19]Forbes reported that the consensus among critics was "mixed positives for Kutcher's performance" and a "thumbs down for Joshua Michael Stern's film."[20]
Robert X. Cringely, author ofAccidental Empires and creator of the documentariesTriumph of the Nerds andSteve Jobs: The Lost Interview, argues that "the film is beautifully shot and Kutcher's portrayal of Jobs, while not spot-on, is pretty darned good. He certainly has the look down and the walk. But Ashton Kutcher also produced this film and he's definitely a better actor than producer. There are a lot of historical inaccuracies that just don't have to be there. ... The great failing of this film is the same failing as withWalter Isaacson's book: something happened during Steve'sNeXT years (which occupy less than 60 seconds of this 122-minute film) that turned Jobs from a brat into a leader, but they don't bother to cover that."[21]Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle states that "at its best, it's a good picture, and at its worst, it's almost good."[22]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone suggests that "Kutcher nails the genius and narcissism. It's a quietly dazzling performance" but also notes that "Jobs is a one-man show that needed to go for broke and doesn't. My guess is that Jobs would give it a swat."[23]
Contributor forrogerebert.com, Susan Wloszczyna, gave the movie two out of four stars, saying that, "Rather than attempting a deeper plunge behind the whys and wherefores of the elite business-model gospel according toApple Inc. guru Steve Jobs and – more importantly – what it says about our culture, the filmmakers follow the easy rise-fall-rise-again blueprint familiar to anyone who has seen an episode of VH1'sBehind the Music."[24] She further discusses how Kutcher's performance and the overall movie failed to portray Jobs in the iconic manner that current pop culture suggests even after Jobs' passing. In a movie review forThe New York Times, writerManohla Dargis writes thatJobs was "inevitably unsatisfying"[25] and a result of a poor performance of the filmmakers rather than the actors themselves.
In a January 2013 interview withThe Verge,Steve Wozniak notes that he was approached by the crew ofJobs and given an early script to read. He read it as far as he "could stomach it and felt it was crap.The Sony people got in contact with me too and in the end I went with them. You can't do both [films] and be paid."[26] At around the same time, he responded to the first promotional clip for the film onGizmodo by stating that the "personalities are very wrong, although mine is closer ... our relationship was so different than what was portrayed."[26]
In August 2013, before the wide release of the film, Kutcher responded to these critiques in a few interviews. In an interview with theAssociated Press, Kutcher stated:
Steve Wozniak is being paid by another company to support their Steve Jobs film. It's personal for him, but it's also business. We have to keep that in mind. He was also extremely unavailable to us when producing this film. He's a brilliant man and I respect his work, but he wasn't available to us as a resource, so his account isn't going to be our account because we don't know exactly what it was. We did the best job we could. Nobody really knows what happened in the rooms.[27]
He reiterated this point in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter by stating that Wozniak "is being paid by another movie studio to help support their Steve Jobs film, so he's gonna have an opinion that is connected to that, somewhat."[28] Wozniak responded to Kutcher's comments as well as to the film itself onGizmodo by stating that "either film would have paid me to consult, but theJobsone already had a script written. I can't take that creative leadership from someone else. And I was turned off by theJobs script. But I still hoped for a great movie." He also believed several individuals portrayed in the film were inaccurately or unfairly portrayed including himself and Steve Jobs.[29] Wozniak reiterated these points in an interview withBloomberg Television adding that he is "really easy to get a hold of, [Kutcher] could have called me and consulted over the phone any time."[30]The Verge noted that "Wozniak was in fact invited to consult on the film, but declined after reading the script, saying he and his wife were 'abhorred' by it. Wozniak was a consultant onAaron Sorkin's2015Steve Jobs film. When asked why he did not at least correct the inaccuracies he saw, Wozniak said, 'I have a very busy life, and it came at a very busy time in my life.'"[30]
In an interview withSlashdot,Daniel Kottke states that he consulted on early versions of the screenplay and notes that "Ashton's very good. I have no complaints with him at all, no complaints with his portrayal of Jobs. The complaint that people would rightly have about the film is that it portrays Woz as not having the same vision as Steve Jobs, which is really unfair." He also said that the early versions of the screenplay "were painful. Really painful. I forwarded the first draft toMike Markkula because they wanted his feedback, and Mike took such a bad reaction to it, he wouldn't have anything more to do with the project. By the time it got to the fourth draft, it was okay. It wasn't making me cringe."[5] Kottke also outlines various areas that were both accurate and inaccurate in the film.Bill Fernandez was part of the same interview but states that he didn't see the film because "the whole thing is a work of fiction, and I don't want to be upset by all the things that the screenwriter has invented and don't represent the truth." Kottke responded that he didn't think of the film as fiction because "I was involved early on in the film, and they really, sincerely tried to make it as accurate as they could."[5]
In the same interview, Fernandez and Kottke commented on the characterization ofRod Holt (portrayed by actorRon Eldard). Kottke disputed the characterization, noting that: "What completely cracked us all up is the scene where Rod arrives for the first time. Rod comes up wearing leathers, riding up on a motorcycle with long hair ... he's like this motorcycle dude. It just cracked us all up."[5] Fernandez, who had not seen the film at the time of the interview, was also surprised by this portrayal. Holt, however, (according to Kottke), "thought it was hilarious."[5] As for why he may have been characterized this way, Kottke states that, "Rod was really into dirt bikes. And I never saw him riding one, but he talked about it all the time. So the author just had him riding up on a motorcycle. I liked that guy. I met him on the set. I had no idea who he was when I met him because he doesn't look at all like Rod, he has long straight hair and he's wearing leathers."[5] Fernandez, who was equally amused by this vision of Holt responded by asking, "Who could this possibly be in the Apple universe? ... It seems to me that there's a lot offan fiction about Apple Computer and about Steve Jobs, and I think that this is the biggest, flashiest piece of fan fiction that there's been to date."[5]
Chris Espinosa stated on Twitter, "FYI My position at Apple precludes my commenting on the #JobsMovie with the press or public. But I can say that I enjoyed watching the film."[31]
The TV showJohn Wants Answers took Wozniak, Kottke, andAndy Hertzfeld through the film scene by scene and discussed how the events actually occurred.[32]
A number ofclassic rock,classical music, and contemporary works appeared in the film.[33] The commercial film soundtrack focuses on an original score by John Debney and includes some but not all of the classical andclassic rock works.[34]
| No. | Title | Singers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Peace Train" (1971) | Cat Stevens[35] | |
| 2. | "Allegro from: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048" (18th century) | Johann Sebastian Bach | |
| 3. | "The House of the Rising Sun" (1966) | The Brymers[36][37] | |
| 4. | "Silver Ghost" (1970) | Parish Hall[38] | |
| 5. | "Fantasie Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. 66" (1834) | Frédéric Chopin | |
| 6. | "Boots of Spanish Leather" (1964) | Bob Dylan | |
| 7. | "Scarborough Fair" | Dylan McDonald & Cassidy Cooper / Produced byMason Cooper & Jerry Deaton | |
| 8. | "There Were Times" (2013) | Freddy Monday | |
| 9. | "Sacrifice" (1960s) | The Brymers[36][37] | |
| 10. | "Life's Been Good" (1978) | Joe Walsh | |
| 11. | "Roll with the Changes" (1978) | REO Speedwagon | |
| 12. | "Shine on Me" | Matthew Cheadle | |
| 13. | "Walk on the Ocean" (1992) | Toad the Wet Sprocket | |
| 14. | "You Can Do (Whatever)" (2013) | Yusuf Islam[39] |
October 2001 (Location: Apple Town Hall). Steve was 46 years old.
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