Big Picture Big Sound

Jobs Report

When you ask Aaron Sorkin to write a script, you have a pretty good idea what you're going to get. Sharp, nonstop, walk-and-talk dialogue, for one thing. But when Mr. Sorkin took on the significant task of adapting Walter Issacson's biography, "Steve Jobs", he quite literally broke the mold. Rather than the typical, yawn-inducing biopic structure (the rise, the vice-related fall, the tear-jerking conclusion), Mr. Sorkin has both embraced the typical three-act format and discarded it.

"Steve Jobs" is still told in three acts, but in this case, each act takes place entirely backstage at a pivotal product launch in Jobs' career: the 1984 original Macintosh (the film opens just days after the debut of the infamous Super Bowl ad), the ill-fated 1988 launch of the NeXT machine, and 1998's iMac debut. Maybe it was the fact that Mr. Sorkin had already explored a Silicon Valley biopic with "The Social Network", or maybe writing about the Apple icon has forced Mr. Sorkin himself to "think different".  Whatever the reason, the structure was clearly an exciting challenge for the wildly talented writer, and it's one that results in an exciting exploration of the Apple icon.

Mr. Sorkin has essentially created three one-act plays, during which he revisits five key relationships in Jobs' life over the years: with co-creator Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen, at his most un-Rogen-y), CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels, at his most Jeff Daniels-y), head of marketing Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), engineer Andy Hertzfeld, and estranged daughter Lisa.

So don't get used to the idea of learning a lot about the reality of Jobs' everyday life. It's not likely that Jobs had to confront these "blood feuds", as Winslet's character calls them, before each product launch. But Mr. Sorkin uses this technique to create a kind of an abstract portrait of the man during these watershed moments.

The film doesn't shy away from Jobs' notoriously icy persona. He's seen berating most of the film's characters in one way or another, but it's a testament to Mr. Sorkin's carefully-drawn script, and Michael Fassbender's solid performance as Jobs, that the man doesn't come off one-dimensional. And while the "West Wing" writer would never stoop to try and explain Jobs' behavior outright, he does find ways to give him a soul.

Jobs' most human relationship is with Joanna Hoffman, his "work wife" and the much-beleaguered head of marketing, who was widely believed to be one of the few people who could talk some sense into Jobs. Kate Winslet, nearly unrecognizable at first beneath a short-cropped head of black hair and lilting Eastern European accent, deftly crafts Hoffman as the rudder to Jobs wildly listing ship.

The true heart of the film comes from the pained relationship between Jobs and his daughter Lisa. Mr. Sorkin does an admirable job trying to squeeze the complexities of a father-daughter dynamic into the limitations of his structure but that's a lot to ask of the format. Though Mr. Fassbender and the three talented actresses playing Lisa over the years do a great job, there's just not enough meat on the bone for a true payoff.

Still, like the rest of "Jobs", that relationship isn't meant to be entirely realistic. It's meant to hint at the reality through a prism of these three key moments in the man's life. And there the film succeeds brilliantly. Danny Boyle, ever the inventive director, finds playful ways to make the static structure visually appealing while keeping the pace snappy. Someday, you could imagine the film being adapted into a three-act stage play. And why not? Mr. Sorkin may be asking you to discard your expectations of the standard biopic. To ignore the impulse to gain insight into his subject via a typical lifestory. In fact, he may be asking you, to coin a phrase, to think different.