Jobs (2013)

The story of Steve Jobs' ascension from college dropout into one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century.

Director:

Joshua Michael Stern

Writer:

Matt Whiteley

Stars:

Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ashton Kutcher	...	Steve Jobs
Dermot Mulroney	...	Mike Markkula
Josh Gad	...	Steve Wozniak
Lukas Haas	...	Daniel Kottke
Matthew Modine	...	John Sculley
J.K. Simmons	...	Arthur Rock
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Clara Jobs
Ron Eldard	...	Rod Holt
Ahna O'Reilly	...	Chris-Ann Brennan
Victor Rasuk	...	Bill Fernandez
John Getz	...	Paul Jobs
Kevin Dunn	...	Gil Amelio
James Woods	...	Jack Dudman
Nelson Franklin	...	Bill Atkinson
Eddie Hassell	...	Chris Espinosa

Storyline

The film opens in 2001 with a middle-aged Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) introducing the iPod at an Apple Town Hall meeting.[6] It then flashes back to Reed College in 1974. Jobs had already dropped out due to the high expense of tuition, but was still attending classes with the approval of Dean Jack Dudman (James Woods) who took him under his wing. Jobs is particularly interested in a course on calligraphy. He meets up with his friend Daniel Kottke (Lukas Haas) who is excited to see that Jobs is holding a copy of Be Here Now by Baba Ram Dass. Influenced by this book and his experiences with LSD, Jobs and Kottke spend time in India. Two years later, Jobs is back in Los Altos, California living at home with his adoptive parents Paul (John Getz) and Clara (Lesley Ann Warren). He is working for Atari and develops a partnership with his friend Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad) after he sees that Wozniak has built a personal computer (the Apple I). They name their new company Apple Computer, though ...

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Plot Keywords:

feet on table | reference to steve jobs | believe in yourself | character name as title | entrepreneur | 

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Taglines:

Some see what's possible, others change what's possible.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some drug content and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA Switzerland

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jobs: Get Inspired

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,713,900, 18 August 2013, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,117,443, 29 September 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Open Road Films (II), Five Star Institute, IF Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene in which it is revealed Jobs sold his stock from the merger, he is listening to "Walk on the Ocean" by the band Toad the Wet Sprocket. However, while the original recording of the song was released at the time, the recording used in the film was released in April 2011, 6 months before his death.

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Goofs

When Steve's girlfriend is telling him she's pregnant, the light in the room behind her goes from on, to off, to on again

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Quotes

Steve Jobs: Get your shit and get out! You're done.
Francis: What? Are you gonna fire me?
Steve Jobs: No! I ALREADY FIRED YOU!... Why are you still here?
Bill Atkinson: Steve, he, he was our best programmer in the division.
Steve Jobs: He's the best programmer that doesn't care about our vision.

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Connections

Featured in Filmselskabet: Episode #4.1 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Walk On The Ocean
Performed by Toad the Wet Sprocket
Written by Glen Phillips, Dean Dinning, Randy Guss (as Randel Guss), Todd Nichols
Courtesy of Toad The Wet Sprocket

User Reviews

An utterly perfunctory retelling of the Apple founder's ups and downs in his early professional years that is good only for the completely ignorant

The first of what will surely be many biopics to come of one of the 20th century's greatest innovators, 'Jobs' only draw is being first out of the gate. Yes, if you haven't yet been acquainted with the tumultuous early years of the Apple founder, then this perfunctory retelling will probably be as good an introduction as any; but everyone else who is familiar with the story will be disappointed with this overly simplistic portrayal of a complex man whose ambition was both his greatest gift as well as his most significant stumbling block. Beginning in 2001 when he unveiled his masterpiece, the iPod, to rapturous applause, Stern and his first-time feature screenwriter Matt Whiteley rewind the clock thirty years ago to 1971 when Jobs was a student at Reed College, Portland. An LSD trip, a journey to India and a brief stint at Atari later, Jobs teams up with his buddy, self-taught engineering wiz Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad), to build Apple computers in the former's parents' Los Altos garage. Jobs had the inspired idea to combine a typewriter with a TV, and the Apple II was born - but not without the funding from entrepreneur and former Intel engineer Mike Markkula (Dermot Mulroney). To find a dramatic hook, Whiteley predictably focuses on the most pivotal turning point in Jobs' life, as Jobs' launch of the Macintosh computer in 1984 sparks off an internal feud with his CEO John Scully (Matthew Modine) and the rest of the Board (including J.K. Simmons' Arthur Rock) that leads to his ouster and the company's subsequent decline. Of course, Jobs makes a return to the flailing company in 1996 upon then-CEO Gil Amelio's (Kevin Dunn) request, returning Apple to its roots in the personal computer market and paving the way for its success today. Is there anything this dramatization adds to that true story which you cannot glean from any text-based account? Hardly; if anything, it merely puts a face to the disbelief, disappointment, indignation and gratification Jobs must have felt when he was kicked out of Apple and then presented with the golden opportunity to rebuild the company into the vision he had for it at the onset. The storytelling is pretty straightforward, covering the important events of his professional ups and downs but providing little details beyond what is already public knowledge. Admittedly, to expect more would probably be a tall order, since the man has passed away and the others who would be familiar with these past events did not participate in the making of this film - including the real-life Woz, who in fact has been a vocal critic of the movie. But more disappointingly, Stern completely glosses over Jobs' personal life and personality, both of which are essential to any self-respecting biopic - after all, how can any biography be complete without an insight into the person whose life story is being told? Whiteley's episodic script is utterly superficial in this regard - and we're not talking about Jobs' drive, determination or innovation. Instead, Jobs' crucial relationship with Wozniak is thinly sketched, not only because it omits how they met and their chemistry, but also because it barely explains why Woz quit Apple dissatisfied with the direction the company was heading and the person that Jobs had become. Other aspects of Jobs' character are given short shrift - for instance, we see Jobs dumping his pregnant girlfriend Chris-Ann Brennan (Ahna O'Reilly) and refusing to recognise his newly born daughter as his own early on, but are given little explanation how and why he settles down and turns into a family man later. If the scripting is a part of the problem, then the acting is yet another. Chiefly, while bearing more than a passing resemblance to Jobs, Ashton Kutcher is not up to the part. To his credit, one can tell Kutcher has put in a lot of effort into the role, emulating his character's awkwardly hunched posture as well as to some degree his voice and gestures; unfortunately Kutcher always looks like he is playing the part, and never quite becoming the character he is supposed to portray. It is an affected performance, and Kutcher's limitations as a dramatic actor are all too apparent here. In fact, the supporting acts steal the show, especially Mulroney's solid turn as Jobs' ally turned adversary. Most of all, Stern's film rarely possesses the qualities that characterised Jobs - it isn't bold enough to offer a balanced, or critical even, perspective of the man (including his more unsavoury personal aspects), nor unique enough to provide a distinctive look at the early years of his storied career. What emerges is simply bland and uninspired filmmaking, which in the context of Jobs' illustrious and intricate life, is an unsatisfying tribute to a man who spent his time being exactly the opposite.