Shared Darkness

If the background extras staring on in worshipful awe and/or cowed silence didn’t clue one in on Steve Jobs‘ anointed brilliance in director Joshua Michael Stern’s film about the influential Apple founder, then cinematographer Russell Carpenter’s reverential framing or, especially, John Debney’s cloying, heavy-handed score surely achieve the same effect. A biopic whose overly literal and demonstrative telling is at frequent odds with a slightly more rangy, full-bodied screenplay, Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher, doesn’t attain the same dizzying, high-drama heights as Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher’s The Social Network, but instead trades readily on the tremendous native interest that attaches itself to and drives this story, given the significant role Apple products play in so many modern lives. It’s a serviceable little amuse-bouche, but doesn’t feel like a definitive rendering of its subject’s life.



A headstrong, adopted kid from a working-class Northern California suburb, Jobs drops out of college, dabbles in hallucinogens and travels to India searching for enlightenment with friend Daniel Kottke (Lukas Haas) before taking employment with videogame maker Atari in 1976. Frustrated with not only the daily grind of an office gig (and the accompanying social necessity of showers) but also what he views as the limited imaginations of lesser intellects, Jobs coaxes childhood pal Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad) out of a similarly stable job to start a company manufacturing and marketing the latter’s computer board invention, at a time when a home market for computers didn’t even exist. They hire a couple friends to meet the order of 100 units from a local electronics store owner, set up shop in the garage of Jobs’ parents, and christen their corporation Apple Computers.

An early investor, Mike Markkula (Dermot Mulroney), helps provide the framework for the company, and Jobs’ restless, relentless ambition does much of the rest, launching Apple into the stratosphere and leaving much bigger tech companies struggling to play catch-up. Eventually, though, Jobs’ thirst for innovation and his in-the-bones contempt for the status quo — as manifested by his insistence on pouring massive amounts of company resources into research and development — alienate Apple’s board members, leading to encroachments on his power and an eventual ouster from the company he co-founded.

Jobs has a good bit going for it. If his instincts for dialogue and interpersonal conflict are often woefully on the nose, debut screenwriter Matt Whiteley does a good job (pun more embraced than intended) of covering lots of ground in Jobs’ story. He doesn’t whitewash or pull punches about his protagonist’s legendary obstinacy, detachment and dickishness — even spotlighting (if rather awkwardly) scenes where Jobs informs his pregnant girlfriend (Ahna O’Reilly) that her condition isn’t his problem, and then later disavows paternity of said child. Focusing on a period of roughly two decades, from 1971 into the early ’90s, Jobs is also smartly structured, insofar as the movie builds to a natural, mid-level-type climax that occurs before Apple’s greatest tech age heights, when the rest of Jobs’ story, absent his cancer, arguably becomes just more of a string of successes.

Director Stern (Swing Vote, Neverwas) keeps the action moving at an appropriately brisk pace that ably showcases the tension and fissures in friendship — or, perhaps more accurately, professional alliance — that almost predictably develop once Apple becomes beholden to stockholders. He doesn’t always have the courage to linger on the roughest patches, though; there’s a low, ever-present hum of hero-worship that runs through Jobs, which is a bit disheartening. The film needn’t be dark, but the manner in which it dutifully cycles through and shruggingly resolves some of its more pronounced conflicts puts bows on disputes and contradiction not meant to be easily resolved.

Still, the film’s general story and performances are involving enough. Kutcher’s lead turn is one of solid investment. Some may quibble, but his physical similarity to Jobs — the reedy body type and thin face — help go a long way toward establishing an audience rapport, and the actor additionally makes a mostly admirable pass at his trademark ungainly gait and terse, clipped speech patterns. Gad, meanwhile, delivers a centered, sympathetic turn as “Woz,” the closest thing to a reliable or lasting friend in this snapshot of Jobs’ world.

In the end, it may not be the authoritative cinematic telling of one of the undeniable luminaries of our new-tech age — the aforementioned Sorkin is working on an adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography — but Jobs is a credible resume entry for almost everyone involved. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. (Open Road Films, PG-13, 127 minutes)

For years, in movies like Over Her Dead Body and No Strings Attached, Lake Bell has played the best friend or colorful third lead, exhibiting a nice instinct for comic timing. With her superb directorial debut, Bell has finally blossomed, creating her own showcase for her true voice.



And what a voice it is, too. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, In a World… is a sharply sketched, wonderfully cast ensemble set against the intriguing backdrop of the cutthroat movie-trailer voiceover world. (The title is a tip of the hat to the late Don LaFontaine, and the baritone phrase he used to kick off many trailers.) Funny, fresh and populated with engaging and relatable characters that behave in recognizably human ways, it’s a true indie treat — easily one of the year’s best comedies.

Chocolate velour track suit-clad Sam Sotto (Fred Melamed) is nearing the end of a long and successful career as a voiceover artist. That doesn’t mean he’s any less egotistical, however. When he casts his underachieving, emotionally wayward adult daughter, Carol Solomon (Bell), out of his house to make room for his 30-year-old fiancée, Jamie (Alexandra Holden), Sam paints it as just another gesture of his largesse (“I’m helping her by not helping her”).

Carol is a part-time vocal coach looking to stamp out the spreading virus of affected “sexy baby” voices in women, but she also needs a place to live. While crashing for a bit with her sister Dani (Michaela Watkins) and brother-in-law Moe (Rob Corddry), Carol books her first voiceover gig with the assistance of an awkward but charming sound engineer, Louis Parker (Demetri Martin). Soon, she has the inside track on her father’s mentee and the industry’s rising star, Gustav Warner (Ken Marino), to do the voiceover for the adaptation of the hot Amazon Games franchise, the next big young-adult novel property. Sam, however, may not be ready to go quietly into the night.

In a World… does something few films do, let alone few directorial debuts — it takes a completely unique setting and story, and then executes on that winning plot without really ringing a false note. Plot-wise, the film is actually kind of overstuffed, with bisecting love triangles and churned-up family issues and comedic misunderstandings that would play in an old vaudevillian routine. But it all rather works, because each ingredient is fresh and the casserole is so well tended to.

Bell takes notions of arrested development and breathes them into various characters, but in a manner that makes sense specifically for them. She also doesn’t sandbag or sell short her characters. It’s not surprising that Carol is well-written, since Bell is playing the lead. But even a supporting character like Jamie is given a great, honest character arc; she’s no mere empty-headed trophy wife, despite appearances. Bell proves equally as at home writing character-based comedy — there’s a sisterly discussion of “just the tip,” awkward posturing by Moe when a neighbor has to use his shower, and plenty moments of quirky workplace recording humor — as she is tossing out The Great Gatsby and Cranberries references, or one-liners about Life Savers.

Most of all, Bell is abetted by a great cast. Melamed is fantastic, as is Martin. Bell and Watkins have a wonderful rapport, and there’s even a surprising tenderness and emotional connection to a romantic rekindling Dani and Moe share. In a World… may be a bit roughhewn for some tastes, but it’s so alive, identifiably clumsy and deliciously complicated — so of the real world — as to put a smile on viewers’ faces. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. (Roadside Attractions, R, 93 minutes)