Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine

A look at the personal and private life of the late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. According to critics, a very biased and negative look at these aspects, but who knows? I personally didn't find it to be that negative. Yes, some bad things are said about Jobs, but those are the opinions of the speaker, and the fact is that he was involved in some shady things. Overall, I thought this was pretty fair.

We get a good overview of computer history, phreaking and more. I have to compare to "Steve Jobs", the Oscar-nominated film. As good as that was, it did not touch on some of the best things of this documentary. The hacking? I would love to have known more. I also now see why Ashton Kutcher was cast in the other Jobs biopic. Fassbinder is the better actor, but wow, Kutcher actually bears a resemblance to Jobs. It is remarkable.

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine is being accused of not being a very uplifting view of Steve Jobs himself. The interviews and actually footage of Steve Jobs speaks for itself. It's not mean spirited; it's actual events, conversations and scandals that took place.

Make no mistake, Steve Jobs was a brilliant man. This well-made documentary is self aware of his genius mind and how he controlled and oversaw every aspect from concept to completion of Apple corp, products and NeXT. It explored how he was David and took down Goliath (IBM) and now in the 21st century, has taken the rein as Goliath and isn't afraid to stomp on the little man.

Director Alex Gibney poses the question(s): Why are we all so obsessed with Steve? Why did we all mourn for a man we've never met? What emotional connection ties us all with our products to the man himself?

If you're interested in this type of pop culture, definitely check it out. Great perspective on a man and company that have changed/dominated our culture in many, many ways.

Despite his over productivity and well-known biases, Alex Gibney is always an essential documentarian to watch, especially since his Oscar winning film. He's already made the best documentary of the year thus far with his attack on Scientology, Going Clear, anything else is icing on the cake. While that film is a revealing call to arms, his Steve Jobs film The Man In The Machine tries those same tricks but it's coming a little too late, especially as the film frames itself over the outpouring of grief over his death. Not that the film is a poor effort. As Going Clear illustrated what we already knew, so does this film. It's not a 2-hour attack as reported - along with the justifications to question society's hero worship towards him are all the reasons he's beloved and considered a visionary that changed the world. Those later Apple announcements with the awed cheers for Jobs earn a similar spine-tingle as the Scientology congregations in Going Clear. It's more endearing here.

The negative reaction to this documentary's criticisms almost highlight that hero worship he still harnesses, but it's difficult to argue over the hard facts of his bullying, both minor and major as documented here. Ultimately, Gibney poses the film as a reflection on our emotional connection to our technology and how that extends to its creator, but while it's an interesting conversation it results only in vague existentialism asking similar questions that he started with. Yes, we've grown dependant on our tech and Jobs' death sparked fear that innovation will slow, that's more or less where the grief comes from and nothing to do with Jobs' life or business tactics. His image as an icon is Goliath and this film is a little David and it offers a small but fair chiseling of that towering statue. It's not Gibney's best work and it spends this year in the shadow of two significant films, but it's still solidly produced and worth a watch for an insight into Jobs' life, especially with Danny Boyle's biopic on the horizon.

7/10

I feel that a lot of content about Steve Jobs, whether film or TV interviews or books or written articles, often present a simplistic, one-sided, view of Steve Jobs. Many present just a portion, such as the technological achievements; others just cover certain time periods--the resurgence of Apple after 2000--and doesn't clearly convey the character of Steve Jobs and his history.

This documentary is something unique: it presents a balanced view of Steve Jobs. It is mostly about Steve Jobs as a person and less about Apple or technologies he was involved in.

Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine covers not only the good side, including his spiritual journey, but also his terrible personality, some serious ethics lapses (such as the options backdating scandal or the secret deal with other companies to prevent tech workers from getting jobs elsewhere), and some controversial manufacturing practices sanctioned by Apple (regarding its suppliers in China and elsewhere). This coverage of the controversial issues is what makes this a great documentary; it doesn't whitewash anything at all.

If you are looking for something more about the technology or how he made Apple into a success, you should check out other material. But if you are looking to learn about how Steve Jobs was as a person, I highly recommend this documentary. I have seen or read quite a bit about Steve Jobs (since the 90's) and this probably does the best job of covering his complex personality and his decisionmaking.

This documentary deserves 9 stars because it is the best doc/feature we've seen thus far in it's delivery of the factual events of Steve Job's life and the scope in which it does so. I chose NOT to give this film a 10 out of 10 because,

there are some events where the narrator's script seems to deliver biased moral opinion on the events and choice made in Steve Job's life even if it is often both positive AND negative. Because there seems to be a bias at times, it detracts from the documentary's potential as a film for the preservation and posterity of Steve Job's historical life and actions but,

if you're capable of thinking for yourself and listening only to the wonderful facts that it presents and are capable of forming your own opinions and ignoring the occasional political spin. This is the best doc/feature we've had in the last 4 years since his passing in terms of delivering a full account of all the man's most notable works and his own personal life.

Excellent work.