Steve Jobs movie review

September is a busy time of year with sporting grand finals and iPhone launches. It’s a great time to reflect on where it all began and the remarkable man behind one of the world’s most successful brands.

Rated M

This engaging 2015 biographical drama was written by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing ) and directed by multi-award-winning Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slum Dog Millionaire).

Adapted from Walter Isaacson’s authorised 2011 biography and interviews conducted by Aaron Sorkin, the film covers three critical points in the career of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs.

Diving into the backstage drama of the Apple Mac 128k launch, the tech isn’t behaving itself and tempers are fraying, one in particular. Immediately you get a sense of Jobs as a demanding, unforgiving, and uncompromising individual.  And this movie is more about the man and the people supporting and contributing to his success, than the tech.  It’s an all-star cast with stellar performances from Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogan and Jeff Daniels. 

The story is peppered with dubious parenting moments with his daughter Lisa, by his high school sweetheart. Steve Jobs had ignored Lisa for her first seven years and continued to deny for many more.

Lisa Brennan-Jobs met with Arron Sorkin several times during development of the script which may have inspired the way the story took on a dimension of human redemption. The film clearly showed Jobs’ journey to becoming a more empathetic human, capable of love and able to be inspired by a connection with the child he never wanted.  

As to be expected with Aaron Sorkin’s masterful storytelling, the truth isn’t allowed to get in the way of a good story.  So, with Sorkin taking poetic licence, the film received criticism for factual inaccuracy from some who were being portrayed like engineer Bill Atkinson and former Apple CEO, John Scully.

There are, as you’d expect, some classic quotable lines:

Lisa, shouts at her father, at the 1998 launch of his iconic blue iMac; “...and that thing looks like Judy Jetson’s easy-bake oven!”

Jobs shrugs off an accusation of his inability to empathise or behave like a caring human being. “I’m poorly made.”

Steve Jobs criticizing Lisa’s Sony Walkman: “You’re carrying around a brick carrying cassette tapes. We’re not savages. So, I’m gonna put 1000 songs in your pocket.”

Andy Hertzfeld: We're not a pit crew at Daytona. This can't be fixed in seconds.

Steve Jobs: You didn't have seconds, you had three weeks. The universe was created in a third of that time.

Andy Hertzfeld: Well, someday you'll have to tell us how you did it.

Structured around four main launches, this film, doesn’t pull any punches. Each launch further demonstrating how ruthless, unlikeable and difficult Steve Jobs could be, to those in his orbit, especially his daughter.  

Love him or loathe him, depending on what you read or watch about his life, the co-founder of Apple who died in 2011 was inarguably a brilliant visionary who revolutionised the digital age.

Steve Jobs put a lot more than just thousands of songs in people’s pockets.  

Find out more about Apple's latest iPhone 14 and watches

The iPhone 14 lineup is available to pre-order from Optus starting on 9 September, and Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra are available to order from 9 September. 

Steve Jobs is available to rent or buy with an Amazon Prime membership.  

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