'Steve Jobs' Movie Review: A Frenetic and Rich Tale (Very) Loosely Based on Real Life

— -- First things first: "Steve Jobs" is a biopic.

You're going to see a whole lot of things that are either not true or greatly exaggerated to serve the narrative the writer set out to achieve. In this case, that writer is Aaron Sorkin, who teams up with Danny Boyle, one of the best directors of this era, to craft a parable that is loosely -- very loosely -- based on the facts.

Michael Fassbender takes on the role of Jobs, a man who, according to the movie, possessed all the warmth of a dead iPhone. Sorkin and Boyle chose to focus their tale around Jobs preparing for three of his major project launches. The common thread through the three launches is Jobs’ relationship -- or lack-thereof -- with his daughter Lisa. In the movie, Jobs denies paternity at first, even though a DNA test proves he is Lisa’s father. In fact, Jobs rejects the idea -- to five-year-old Lisa’s face. He’s also exceedingly unkind to Lisa’s mother, his ex-girlfriend Chrisann (Katherine Waterston).

Throughout each product launch, Jobs deals with the distractions and emotions that come with being human, all the while trying to focus on introducing new gadgets that will allegedly make it easier to be human. While computers are machines devoid of emotion or personality, Jobs attempts to endow them with these attributes to make them more appealing to the masses. While trying to achieve that goal, though, he forgets to treat the people who work for him and love him like human beings.

Kate Winslet plays Joanna Hoffman, Jobs’ publicist, sounding board and conscience. Telling you Winslet is great is like telling you Donald Trump is cocky. Winslet is, essentially, Meryl Streep Jr. Winslet's character is the catalyst for an important scene in act three that ends up being completely incongruous and unrealistic. That moment is the climax of an important plotline which can only be justified by the fact that the whole movie is, essentially, a fantasy.

Now that you know that, you can enjoy this movie for what it is: a frenetic and rich tale loosely based on real life. The film stars Fassbender, Winslet, Seth Rogen (Steve Wozniak) and the vastly underrated Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Apple engineer Andy Hertzfeld.

Four out of five stars.