JOBS 
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, Dermot Mulroney, Lukas Haas, Matthew Modine, J.K. Simmons, Leslie Ann Warren, James Woods, Ahna O’Reilly
Directed by: Joshua Michael Stern
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 122 mins
Genre: Biography/ Drama
Opens August 16th
By Lisa Minzey of The Reel Critic.com
Hey Phoenix Film Fans! Another bio-pic film opening this week focuses on Apple founder Steve Jobs. Ashton Kutcher is cast as the enigmatic founder, but can he pull off such a beloved figure in the tech world?
Focusing more on the origins of the Apple company, “JOBS” chronicles the life of Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) starting in 1974 while attending Reed College, the formation of Apple with his friend and co-founder Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad) to the rise and fall of Steve Jobs’ first tenure at Apple Computers to his rehiring in 1996.
Steve Jobs revolutionized an industry, changing the way people use technology from film, music, telecommunications and of course, personal computing. As a filmmaker, I would expect that one would focus more on the accomplishments rather than the drama that went on to paint this man as a tyrant to work with. So much time is spent on Jobs’ struggle with the board of directors and his famous tantrums while working on projects, demanding perfection. There is so much innovation in the Apple company that it would have been more interesting of a film if they focused not on the Apple II, The Lisa or the origins of the Macintosh but more on the iPod, iTunes and the iPhone or even talk about his struggle with Pancreatic Cancer. What does work in the film is that the casting of the people involved as the resemblance is uncanny to some of the real -life people. The only stand out performance in the film is from Josh Gd, in a more serious turn when as “Woz” confronts Jobs before his firing. You be the judge when “JOBS” opens in theaters starting Friday August 16, 2013.
