BlackBerry

Between this, Air, and Tetris, I think this one takes the cake. The central performances (Jay Baruchel & Glenn Howerton) are fantastic, and both manage to captivate us with their distinct mannerisms and quirks. The story itself is very compellingly told, with details covered from multiple angles, including business, tech, marketing, employee relations, and more. There's no question that Hollywood loves discussing corporate wins and losses (well, mostly wins) and BlackBerry is certainly among the finest I've seen. Howerton (playing Jim Balsillie) is at his best when he loses his cool, throwing temper tantrums at almost everyone, including contemporaries, executives, and even private jet pilots. The rise and fall of BlackBerry was always going to be an exciting story, and director Matt Johnson does an excellent job with the material in hand.

Watching these movies about the crazy cutthroat businesses of the 80s and 90s is very entertaining. This movie was great, well acted, fast paced and fun throughout. I myself grew up during the time of the Blackberry but didn't know anything about their story, so this was a fascinating look into how crazy the tech world was at the time.

The real gem of the entire movie though was the Golden God himself, Glen Howerton. I've been a fan of Always Sunmy and I'm always interested in what the cast does outside of that show. I havnt seen Glen in a serious role yet but he delivered. In Always Sunny Glen plays a sociopath who is constantly getting angry, you could tell that in Blackberry he was able to use that for his character. Glen was by far the best part of this movie, funny and intimidating all at the same time.

Greetings again from the darkness. There aren't too many companies who have reached the pinnacle of their industry, only to later flop due to lack of innovation or a stubborn insistence on holding on to the past. Tremendous success and absolute failure are not typically associated with the same company. Blockbuster Video and Pan Am Airlines come to mind as examples of industry leaders whose refusal to adapt, culminated with closure, and it's likely that Blackberry belongs in the category, at least as presented here by writer-director Matt Johnson and co-writer Matthew Miller, adapting the book by Jacquie McNish.

Socially awkward pals, Mike Lazaridis (played by Jay Baruchel) and Doug Fregin (played by the film's director Matt Johnson), co-founded Research in Motion (RIM). The film picks up in 1996 when Mike and Doug are making their first presentation of their breakthrough handheld data delivery-email machine, which they have named Pocket Link. These are two genius nerds with no concept of how the outside business worlds functions, and the executive to whom they are pitching is so distracted that his only feedback is, "You need a new name." In a fascinating twist, that same executive, Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia") ends up saving not just the new product, but also the company.

Balsillie presents himself as a fireball, take charge, full-steam-ahead kind of guy. It's quite a contrast to nerdy Mike and easy-going Doug. Mike is a quiet guy committed to perfection in his work, while Doug wrangles the tech developers with a culture of video games, movie night, and an overall fraternity environment. Balsillie's arrival as a vocal outrage expert and brash businessman changes everything, and he and Mike drive the newly named BlackBerry to levels not previously seen. We do get a humorous anecdote from a shirt stain (even though it's not a true story), and in fact, there is quite a bit of humor throughout.

We are informed that the film was "inspired by real people and real events", so some dramatic license is expected. Perhaps the best comparison is THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010), and while that film was more polished, I personally found this one more entertaining and accurate from a business sense. An excellent supporting cast includes Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Michael Ironside, Martin Donovan, Rich Sommer, and SungWon Cho, and the film's real draw is the contrast between Jay Baruchel's mousy but brilliant Mike, and Glenn Howard's powerhouse portrayal of the egotistical Balsillie. Baruchel's scene where he reacts to the new iPhone is alone worth the price of admission.

At its peak, BlackBerry had 45% market share and had earned it's "CrackBerry" label in the business world. Apple's 2007 introduction of the iPhone not only rocked the BlackBerry company, it shook up the world. The Canada perspective is noted (RIM was based in Waterloo, Ontario), as is Mike's aversion to 'made in China', perhaps the ultimate reason for the fall. It's likely that BlackBerry has become a Case Study in Business Schools, although the fast-paced and pressure-packed world of tech continues to require a balance of decisions focused on current markets and never-ending innovation for the future.

Opens on May 12, 2023.

I mean you knew from the get go this wasn't going to be Oscar-winning film making at its best. An actor that clearly has shaved his head to look balding and someone with a ridiculous grey wig. They stand out like sore thumbs.

Then all the clichés that you can throw at a movie like this: geeks are introverted and can't talk properly. Geeks play computer games. Geeks like Star Trek. Geeks are geeky geeky geek geeks.

Similarly men in suits are evil, but they do make money! And while a Canadian story it's the American Dream right, rags to riches?

And it's not 100% wrong, just so exaggerated.

And you can't have an origin movie without some daft scenes about how the name came to be.

That said, it's an entertaining watch and the time flew by. It's also fanciful in its facts but it does remind us that Blackberry had such a short life. It was so omnipresent that it seems almost impossible now.

Detach brain, watch, enjoy!

Aside from the constant annoying fast zoom-ins and shaky cam "The Office" style filming - which I can't stand, this was one heck of an enjoyable film. The two hour runtime flew by with the excellent pacing and the smooth cohesive and well-written screenplay. Jay Baruchel nailed his character with an all around great performance, as did Glenn Howerton. For that matter, all casting and performances were spot on, as was the cinematography and score. The story was mind-blowing, even if you never owned a BlackBerry, just to see a slice of Steve Jobs as the Canadian version of a small start-up becoming a world dominating tech empire, and that empire's fall from grace.