The first reviews of “jOBS” are in. The Steve Jobs biographical film, starring Ashton Kutcher, is receiving mixed reviews so far from those who have gotten an early look at the film.
Ashton Kutcher called the starring role scary and seemed to have an appropriate amount of reverence for the subject matter. However, reviewers seemed to have mixed feelings at best about the movie.
TNW’s Matthew Panzarino liked the movie and called it entertaining but inaccurate:
But, overall, jOBS works. The lead actors are likable and appear to have put serious effort into getting the spirit of the characters right. […] This isn’t going to be the canonical Steve Jobs biography movie. Honestly, Jobs was such a complex individual that I can’t see one ever being made. But, as an impressionist portrait of a specific period in his life, it’s successful.
CNET’s Casey Newton, says he didn’t like it:
My primary disappointment was in how shallow the film felt, given the extensive historical record. In the early days Jobs’ co-workers had to wrestle with a man who smelled bad, who cried often, who yelled constantly, who missed deadlines, who overspent his budget by millions. […] There is great drama to be found in all that, but it is not to be found in the saccharine “jOBS.
The Hollywood Reporter called it “a two-hour commercial covering the first 20 tumultuous years of Apple’s development.”
The Verge calls it a good, if very “safe” film. “As expected, there are some liberties taken with Apple’s story and even / especially the representation of some characters — but the emotional resonance of Steve Jobs himself is convincing”
USA Today reported that Kutcher experienced some medical problems before the shooting:
Kutcher says that he started a fruit-only diet to prepare to play the Apple co-founder for the biopic Jobs, which premiered Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival.
The diet, which the film claims Jobs adhered to, ended up sending Kutcher to the hospital with pancreas problems.
“First of all, the fruitarian diet can lead to like severe issues,” Kutcher said after the film’s screening. “I went to the hospital like two days before we started shooting the movie. I was like doubled over in pain.
“My pancreas levels were completely out of whack,” Kutcher added. “It was really terrifying … considering everything.[Jobs died as the result of Pancreatic Cancer]“
jOBS hits theaters nationwide on April 19.
