Two movies seem to be wrestling for control of this biopic about Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs. One is a poor man’s Social Network that depicts Jobs as a brilliant, antisocial jerk; the other is an embarrassing piece of hagiography that treats Jobs like a messiah, placing him in the middle of “triumphant” images reminiscent of Soviet-era movies about Stalin. Ashton Kutcher delivers an interesting performance in the first movie, playing on his limitations as an actor to bring a pathetic dimension to Jobs’s self-aggrandizing persona. The less said about the second movie, the better. With Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, J.K. Simmons, Lukas Haas, and Matthew Modine; Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote) directed a script by Matt Whiteley.
Jobs
PG-13 • 2 hours 5 min • 2013