You got a college and university advisory board telling you they need a powerful work station for $2 to $3,000. Woz: I came here 'cause you're gonna get killed. Brutal Honesty: In act two, Woz says NeXT will fail.Broken Pedestal: Jobs and John Sculley, from both their perspectives.To Jobs, the iMac is a nice compromise of these two viewpoints. This is a nod to the difference in philosophy between Jobs (who wanted consumers to not be able to tinker with their machines) and Woz (who wanted the opposite). In the same scene, when a handheld camera examines the iMac up close, Steve Jobs notes that you can see in the machine, but you still can't open it.
Early in the third segment, when Jobs is rehearsing, he notices something different, and realizes the exit sign lights have been turned off. Brick Joke: During the first segment, Jobs orders Andrea Cunningham to find a way to have the exit sign lights turned off so the auditorium can go completely dark.Biopic: Refreshingly, the movie doesn't take a conventional approach to biopics but instead focuses on three important points in Steve's life: the launch of the Macintosh, the launch of NeXT, and the launch of the iMac.It's no coincidence that in a scene where Joanna isn't present, Jobs and Wozniak get into a bitter and public argument.Beleaguered Assistant: Joanna Hoffman has to deal with the insanely high demands of Steve Jobs, be a buffer between the public and his abrasive manner, and even won an award at Apple for being able to put up with his ego.Lampshaded by Joanna (see Insult Backfire below). Batman Gambit: Steve dragging his feet on the NeXT while he waits for Apple to flounder so they have to hire him back as CEO and let him save the company.The first act is shot in 16mm to give a retro feel the second act is shot in 35mm and the third act is shot in digital HD. Andy Hertzfeld put it best when he said (paraphrased), "That never actually happened, but it's all true."
But, to fault Sorkin a little, there is a lot of talking. With Aaron Sorkin at the helm of the writers' table, we get some solid, witty and biting dialogue delivered by the acting crew with some wit and pizzazz. We essentially get a look-in at how Steve Jobs morphed from 1984 to 1988 to 1998, and while Fassbender executes subtle differences in each year, it mostly feels like the same repeat scene three different times. While it rightly deserves to be praised for the performance Michael Fassbender (most notably) and company put in over the course of two hours on screen, a few faults lie within the one note it seems to continuously strike through the three 'chapters' we get to see the tech giant live his life.