“People are
different and they are different at different times”. This does hold good for
celebrities and popular figures too right? We do not really expect a world
renowned genius to be modest, humble, polite and courteous all the time, do we?
Or if we actually do, whose fault is it anyways!
Whoever told us
that celebrities should set an example in every aspect of their life? I never
really understood the logic behind some people telling you that they like X, Y,
Z as an actor because he is such a good human being. How does being a good
human being have anything to do with his on screen abilities? The point I’m
trying to drive home is that the ability to differentiate between the
skill/competency of a person and his/her personality.
I haven’t blogged
for ages and am a bit rustic at the moment. Having had a marathon 15 hours of
back to back sessions at college (Welcome to B-School woes!), I get back to the
hostel wanting to take a nap, but alas, it’s that time of the year wherein you
try to catch on all the movies you have missed out on, before they give away
the Oscars. I dunno why I do this though, just for the masochistic numbness
derived when people you think deserved the award don’t end up winning.
I ended up watching
Steve Jobs whose trailer I have seen a million times and having been following
up on all that has been written about the depiction of Jobs in the film. There
has been a lot written and said about the misrepresentation of the person that
Jobs was. My favourite comment being “How can they make a film that shows Jobs
as a condescending maniac when he isn’t alive to defend himself!” “The movie
doesn’t even capture the most poignant moments of Jobs’ life”
People need to
appreciate two different aspects of making a biopic. One that deals with capturing
every moment of a legend’s life making the audience feel like they have had an
overdose of Draught of Living Death. Very few 3 hour long biopics manage to
hold one’s attention. Then there are the movies that revolve around a few
specific moments of a celebrated person’s life. Jobs does the latter and
smartly so. There cannot be a smarter movie for probably one of the smartest
minds to have walked the planet. And that by itself is a fitting ode to the
legend that Jobs was!
First, the casting
is super awesome. Forgive me childish words of excitement. From the bang on
performance of Fassbender to the maturity of Jeff Daniels (who manages to be
noticed in a role that only exists to be ostracised) to the elegance of Kate
Winslet in shifting from a marshmallow to an iron hammer within a fraction of a
second to an inexplicable performance from Seth Rogen as a friend fighting to
be considered on the same level as a legend.
Second, it is based on a book that
gave the Walter Isaacson access to the real Steve Jobs and people in his life.
Danny Boyle was wise enough to pitch the film based on three important
occasions in Jobs’ illustrious life. Just 3. Not the entire 26172391735232
moments beautifully entwining the professional with the personal. Third, it has
the BRILLIANT Sorkin writing the dialogues. Nobody writes smart people the way
Sorkin does, be it Mark Zuckerberg, Will McAvoy, Jed Bartlet or now Steve Jobs.
The walking-and-talking style of his screenplay along with the terseness of the
editing and directing always make sure that you are hooked on to every single
word. In my case, multiple rewinds to relive a smartass moment-there are many
of those, of course.
To me, a movie is
as good as the number of people you want to make sure saw the movie. I have
texted, called, cajoled, and coerced my friends into watching it, the
traditional way. Now, I’m blogging after a really long tiring day, going
digital as well.
To me, a movie is
as good as the number of scenes/dialogues that you wanted to cheer for. This
had at least half a dozen of those. The Beatles/Rainman/Pepsi references took
wit to a whole new level. The Wozniack-Jobs, Lisa-Jobs and the multiple
Hoffman-Jobs, confrontation scenes stand testimonial to the tautness of the
script.
Jobs is portrayed
as being arrogant, stubborn, antisocial and a tyrant but one cannot overlook
the film’s portrayal of him as an absolute genius and that is why we remember
him not because he was polite. He had a revolutionary vision not a humanitarian
award. So do start watching movies for the right reason. The writer-director
have specified that it is fictionalised fact, some of the dialogue did partake
creative liberty to sound dramatic. It might be an exaggeration of real life
events. But, you know what LIFE IS ALL ABOUT EXAGGERATION and cinema is a
medium which is its posterboy.
This is my new
favourite movie in sickness and in health, because of it being smart not being
polite. There was another movie made loosely based on a real life person which
faced much flak but now it is regarded the best movie ever made unanimously by
all movie lists, though it did not use the person’s name. The movie is titled
after the person in this case and it does live up to the things he was most
known for. Go ahead and have a braingasm and do not delve too much into how
Jobs is rolling in his grave. If you still want to complain, you deserve to
watch Jobs starring Kutcher instead.
