Imaginative, uncompromising, “memorably monstrous”—Steve Jobs has been called all these things, and based on the new trailer released today, the upcoming biopic will capture all of these facets and more.
In this second trailer released for the film, Jobs (played by Michael Fassbender) is in heated conversations—with his business partner and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen), with former girlfriend Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston), and with his “work wife” Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet). For the first minute of the trailer, the dark sides of the screen become larger and larger, like the walls are closing in on Jobs, as The Verge points out.
This portrait of Jobs as a difficult but brilliant man is apt. He was unrelenting in his desire for perfection, and as a result pushed his employees to engineer groundbreaking and elegantly designed systems. For those of us who didn't work at Apple during his tenure, that ruthless drive was probably worth it—because of that work, we have personal computers, smartphones, and tablets. But that doesn't mean he was pleasant to work with.
The film's focus on Jobs' complex humanity may save it from some of the criticisms that befell the 2013 biopic starring Ashton Kutcher, which bombed at the box office and was panned by some critics for focusing too much on the company than on Jobs himself. Based on the trailers, this year's film won't likely fall into the same trap.
Those who knew Jobs best have been positive about the film so far. Steve Wozniak told BBC News:
I've actually seen two rough cuts. My impression was I was shocked and amazed at how good it was in the sense of professional filmmaking. I usually go to a movie not looking for “do I like the story” as much as: “What is the quality that came out of the heads of the people that made it?” In this case the filmmakers have done an award-winning job. The acting was just so realistic. In some prior movies, I saw [the actors] simulating Steve Jobs, but they didn't really make me feel like I was in his head understanding what was going on inside of him – his personality. This movie absolutely accomplishes that, and it's due to great acting, which obviously comes from great directing.
Steve Jobs will be in theaters everywhere October 23.
