December 10, 2013
Jobs
Karin McKie READ TIME: 1 MIN.
The man who changed the way the world listens to music, watches movies and speaks to each other is limply profiled in "Jobs," starring Ashton Kutcher as the notoriously difficult, yet wildly innovative, computer entrepreneur who died at the age of 56 in 2011.
Barefoot Steve Jobs dropped both acid and out of college in 1974, then left Atari to start Apple in his Palo Alto garage with Steve Wozniak (a frizzy Josh Gad) and a few other tech-heads.
The film recounts, yet doesn't explore, Jobs' other milestones, from being ousted from his company in 1985, to his return a decade later to launch the iPod, a "tool for the heart, for keeping 1000 songs in your pocket."
Kutcher, surprisingly more thoughtful and tech-savvy in real life than the doofus characters he usually plays, does decent work showing that brilliance begets understandable bursts of attitude, that this "Leonardo of our time" was likely compensating for being adopted and fired, and was just trying to find "love and appreciation through his products."
But the script is merely a chronological account, using overly simplified dialogue such as "you're good, but you're an asshole," and doesn't illuminate Jobs' encompassing cultural significance, nor fully ponder deep, important questions such as, "How does somebody know what they want if they've never even seen it?"
Slim Blu-ray extras include bits about the film -- deleted scenes, director commentary, and behind the scenes -- plus featurettes about the man himself, "Ashton Kutcher is Steve Jobs" and "The Legacy of Steve Jobs."
"Jobs"
Blu-ray and DVD Combo
$24.86
http://jobsthefilm.com/
Karin McKie is a writer, educator and activist at KarinMcKie.com