Michael Fassbender portrays tech icon Steve Job's dark side in the upcoming biopic, "Steve Jobs: Man In the Machine." With an Oscar-winning director at the helm and stellar supporting cast that includes Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen, the film gets a shot of energy and offers the element of thrill.
The upcoming movie is touted to be more compelling than the previous biopic. The 2013 film, that had Ashton Kutcher playing the visionary American businessman who co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak, was a box-office flop.
For the new movie, the tagline may well speak for the lead character and storyline: "Bold. Brilliant. Brutal." Hollywood insiders and cinema enthusiasts believe the casting of "12 Years a Slave" and "Prometheus" star in the title role is well-conceived.
Choosing an actor of such caliber as Fassbender to portray the complex character of Jobs was spot on. Compared to some of his contemporaries that include Hollywood maverick Leonardo diCaprio, Fassbender was considered the "perfect fit" for the role, Time reported.
Jobs is highly revered and known to lots of people as a hard-driving leader who demanded perfection from his team, yet few people were aware how horrible he could be when things were not up to his standard.
Filmmaker Alex Gibney opted not to cover the entire life story of Jobs. When the Jobs family hesitated to cooperate, Gibney spoke to a handful of people who have worked with him, including former Apple executives, friends, and even the mother of Jobs' first child, Lisa. The latter is one of the key people in Job's personal life featured in the film.
Gibney depicted the cruel moment when Jobs denied paternity of his daughter Lisa, though the Apple co-founder later on made the situation right, The Verge reported.
Leading podcaster and tech columnist Jefferson Graham took to Twitter to share how Andy Cunningham, a former publicist of Jobs, found him very challenging and inspiring, despite all the negative characteristics. Cunningham is portrayed by Australian actress Sarah Snook in the new film.
Aaron Sorkin wrote the script that weaves in Apple's three iconic product launches. "Steve Jobs: Man In the Machine" hits cinemas in the United States in October and the United Kingdom in November.