Steve Jobs | Fast Lane Film

I like to remain open-minded about my film experiences, and sometimes I take a more cerebral approach to my cinematic choices by occasionally venturing beyond my comfort zone. But when all else fails, stick with what you know. When I saw the trailer for Triple 9, I knew this was my type of movie. Reminiscent of movies such as Training Day and Street Kings, Triple 9 promised a gritty look into the seedy world of corrupt law enforcement and the criminals to whom they are indebted. Featuring a talented cast including the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor (Secret in Their Eyes, The Martian) and Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs), my curiosity was sufficiently piqued. It looked like the type of movie to fly under the radar, and sure enough my theater was sparsely populated.

I often say that movies are won and lost in their opening and closing sequences, and Triple 9 started with a literal bang and never let up. It begins in the back of a van, without about six men gearing up for what appears to be some type of tactical mission. Are they cops? A swat team? Bank robbers, or all of the above? They expertly execute a bank heist with precision, targeting only a singular safe deposit box. As they flee the scene of the crime and peel off their masks, we see that most of them are actually cops. They are lead by Michael Atwood (Ejiofor), ex-military private security, police officers Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie, The Night Before), Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr., Transcendence), ex-cop Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad) and his brother Russell (Norman Reedus, The Walking Dead). The crooked bunch are working at the behest of the Russian mob, controlled by a very sinister Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs) as Irina Visalov, wife of an incarcerated Russian mobster.

Irina and Atwood’s relationship grows increasingly volatile after she ups the ante and insists they pull off another heist, this time from a Homeland Security facility – a nearly impossible feat. In a cruel stroke of genius, Rodriguez has a plan to divert local law enforcement’s attention while they pull of the job. When an officer goes down in the line of duty, his fellow brothers in blue respond immediately, citywide. Just as 187 is the police code for murder, 999 (triple 9) is the code for officer down, or in distress. If they can pull off a Triple 9, they can square things with Irina and walk away with a big payday. Stuck between the law and the mob, these crooked cops have their work cut out for them, leveraged to the hilt.

I enjoyed this movie for the simple reason that it was entertaining. There were some issues with pacing, as the movie wore on in its final act, but overall I enjoyed it because several scenes were nothing short of an adrenaline rush. The performances were mostly good, with Mackie and Ejiofor particularly bringing a convincing and conflicting emotionality to their roles. Winslet was as I’d never seen her, unnerving and vicious. The script faltered a bit here and there in terms of realism, but I mostly thought it was solid. You could say this was a poor man’s Training Day, and it won’t be remembered, but hey, I liked it! I give it a solid grade of: B

After viewing The Social Network a few years ago, I felt inspired by Mark Zuckerburg’s story and was encouraged to follow my own dreams. I thought the story of Steve Jobs might similarly inspire me, but after viewing Jobs, I felt no such inspiration. Perhaps the filmmakers intended to portray Steve Jobs as a complex, charismatic innovator – and to a certain extent, they succeeded. However, it seems to me that he could also be an asshole, and that was one of the salient aspects of his personality that stuck with me.

The movie begins in 1974 at Reed College, where Steve (Ashton Kutcher, New Year’s Eve) is a former student. He bums around campus, occasionally sitting in on classes despite being a dropout. He has close friends and a girlfriend, but his social interaction with others is strange, and his emotional maturity seems stunted. Very early on he seems unaware of others’ feelings, but displays a keen curiosity that draws others to him. In some ways he both repels and attracts other human beings, which is an odd feat.

Eventually Steve begins working for Atari. The superior quality of his work makes him an asset to his supervisor, and he challenges Steve to improve one of their popular arcade games. Steve enlists his friend, Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad, Love & Other Drugs) to help him with the project. Steve was promised $5,000 for the successful completion of the task and told his buddy that he’d give him half of the money. Only Steve told his friend that he’d only been promised $700 for the work; thus giving his friend a paltry $350 for providing invaluable assistance. This may seem like an insignificant act, but I found it abhorrent and it both underscored and foreshadowed Steve’s social ineptitude.

While Wozniak assisted with the Atari project, Steve observed a rudimentary keyboard at his house one day. Intrigued, he wanted to know more about this device that would ultimately serve as the prototype for the modern personal computer. At the time it was only a keyboard that needed to be connected to a monitor, but eventually a local retailer encouraged Steve to provide both the keyboard and monitor for sale as one product. I credit Jobs with brilliant innovation, but he certainly has others to thank for inspiring groundwork that was laid years ago.

The movie chronicles Apple Computer from its inception, through Steve’s monumentally successful tenure during the early 80s, and through his ousting by the company’s board of directors in 1985. Though Apple was immensely popular and successful in the early 80s, Steve never seemed motivated by profit, but by creativity. His work ethic was relentless, and he demanded excellence. However, his loyalty was virtually nonexistent, and his results-driven approach to business appeared downright callous at times. This is a man who screwed his friends and denied his child’s existence for the first two years of her life while her mother lived on welfare.

Perhaps these asshole tendencies are an attendant personality trait of genius; I’m not sure. I just found that the movie didn’t portray Jobs as this likable, interesting man that he actually may have been. Ashton Kutcher’s performance was uneven and inconsistent. One minute he perfectly embodied Jobs, and the next minute he seemed to be imitating him, as exemplified by Jobs’ trademark shuffling gait. I think Kutcher approached the role with the requisite seriousness that a biopic requires, but I can’t quite call his performance a success. If anything, the movie may encourage people to learn more about this enigmatic visionary. Unfortunately, I was left wanting more. Grade: B-