Movie review: 'Jobs' is a lifeless biography

By Vince Horiuchi The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: August 20, 2013 10:29 pm
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The unofficial motto for Apple products has been "It just works." Not so for "Jobs," the new biographical film about the controversial maker of the iPod and iPhone that is starry-eyed idol-worship on the part of its creators. The movie tracks familiar territory as Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) plots a trajectory from California hippie to visionary CEO who changed the landscape of consumer electronics. Along the way, we see Jobs' startup in his garage and his rocky relationship with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad). Kutcher is not the complete disaster that some had feared — or hoped —and even looks like Jobs from the neck up. But the actor is unable to convey the spark, charisma and intelligence of the Apple icon. There is little to mine from the movie that wasn't well-known in news stories before, so the audience is left with a lifeless biography that will leave the curious wanting more.

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'Jobs'

Opens Friday, Aug. 16, at area theaters; rated PG-13 for some drug content and brief strong language; 122 minutes.

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