The Film
Dude, where's my Oscar nomination?
It's hard to believe that Ashton Kutcher would be cast in such as high-profile biopic as Jobs. Yes, this is the same Ashton Kutcher who took over for Charlie Sheen on the love-it-or-hate-it CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men. He's also the same guy whose last films include the crapfests No Strings Attached and New Year's Eve.
However, Kutcher does a surprisingly good job as the late innovator. It's a shame that his performance is wasted on a movie that leaves a lot to be desired. Jobs skips over a lot of the important moments in Steve Jobs' life and plays like a highlights reel. Also, if there's any truth to the movie -- like any -- Jobs was a truly awful human being. Like, kicking-puppies awful.
Not that he does that in the movie, but he certainly doesn't mind treating his employees like garbage. Of course, that's when he's not kicking his pregnant girlfriend to the curb or cutting Apple's founding members out of stock options.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Because if movies have taught us anything, it's that horrible people make fascinating film characters.
That said, Jobs is boring. Also, it jumps around so much that you hardly get to know anything about Jobs himself. He's rich, he's a jerk, and he's the guy who drove Apple. The end. There's no method to the madness and frankly, this movie makes it seem like Jobs didn't even know that much about technology. Instead, he comes off like a good talker who knew what he liked and knew how to motivate a team.
Kutcher does his best to sew together what he's given, but it's hard to believe him or even care because there's so much missing from his character. And forget about learning anything about Steve "The Woz" Wozniak (played here by Josh Gad) or any of the other major players, because they're basically blips in the movie. Of course, the movie isn't "Jobs and Friends," but the only connections we see between his girlfriend, his kids, his wife or his colleagues are the sour ones.
One can assume that Jobs was a complex man who would be hard to squeeze into a film -- even one that runs 129 minutes. However, Jobs seems to leave out major portions of the guy's life. Heck, it doesn't even delve much into his later years or even his death. Instead, it's filled with famous faces, all of which have very little character development, making this '70s show come off as kind of boring.
The Picture
Apple makes some pretty products, but the company's birth and its founder don't make for a very pretty movie. The 2.35:1 image is a bit of mixed bag. It's sharp in some spots and not so sharp in others. The colors are decent, but there's nothing too impressive here. If anything, it seems to convey the time period pretty well, which is a nice way of saying it looks dated. Jobs probably isn't really the type of movie that you go into with high expectations on the image. That said, it is a new movie and it should look a little better on Blu-ray.
The Sound
Like the image, this film's DTS-HD Master Audio track isn't all that memorable. However, it gets the job (or Jobs) done. It's not an immersive experience, but the soundtrack is pretty bold and the dialogue is always clear and centered.
The Extras
Final Thoughts
Ashton Kutcher does a surprisingly decent job in Jobs and the AV is decent. However, Jobs seems like a completely wasted opportunity. There's no doubt that Steve Jobs was a pioneer and innovator. He's just not a good subject for a movie -- at least not this one.
Product Details
Where to Buy:
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