Stories of rise and fall have always served well as film material. Whether fictional or based on true events, few things are as exciting as a montage that takes us to the creation of something special witness before we sink into the downside of quick success. Here you can tell a lot about the people and the world.
The best example of recent years: The Social Network. When we in the Moviepilot editorial team sat down to choose the top 100 best films of the 2010s, it quickly became clear that the film aptly summarizes the past decade on many levels. David Fincher didn’t just the facebook movie turned but history and zeitgeist bundled into two masterful hours.
After Facebook comes BlackBerry: The Canadian The Social Network celebrates its premiere at the Berlinale
13 years after its theatrical release, a film that is amazingly similar to The Social Network is celebrating its premiere at the Berlinale: BlackBerry. It’s about the story of the Canadian company BlackBerry Limited, which – like Facebook – changes the way we communicate with each other has always changed. Once again, there is much more to it than just dealing with a company’s history.
It’s almost creepy how similar The Social Network and BlackBerry are. Starting with the electronic music, which drives the action conspiratorially, through to the observing looks through oppressive offices: numerous parallels can be found both on a filmic and content level. At the latest when the unequal CEOs collides, the direct déjà-vus begin.
Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) is the cranky tech genius with a vision that has the potential to turn the world upside down. However, he cannot put this vision into words. This is where Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) comes into play, who loves superlatives and wraps investors around his finger with impossible promises. He’s an unscrupulous businessman, a ticking time bomb.
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BlackBerry
The question of who is the asshole in BlackBerry answers itself. However, as with the founding of Facebook, the two opposing parties need each other to be successful. The best product is useless if the world has no idea it exists and how to use it. However, from the beginning it is clear that this relationship or dependence Sure to fail is. BlackBerry will implode.
The Social Network, Steve Jobs and Co.: BlackBerry joins the ranks of successful films about entrepreneurship
Director Matt Johnson, who can also be seen in a supporting role and co-wrote the screenplay, sees the brief success story of BlackBerry primarily as a portrait of a male-dominated (business) world. Toxic behavior is usually rewarded here. In quasi-documentary images (the biggest difference to Fincher’s glamorous Hollywood look) Johnson keeps intrigue after intrigue.
Skillfully, BlackBerry dissects the processes by which capitalism destroys a groundbreaking vision, suppresses all creativity and Quality requirements nipped in the bud. This conflict is inherent in every film about entrepreneurship. Luckily, BlackBerry has more of the energy that Steve Jobs brings and the fun that WeCrashed brings. Nobody really needs another The Founder.
The great role model remains The Social Network. When the Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset finally seals the BlackBerry demise, Jesse Eisenberg could be lonely in an office and Desperate Ctrl and F5 while the Beatles escort him into the credits with Baby, You’re a Rich Man. Not only the environment in which ideas are born and destroyed, but the idea itself is questioned here.
Johnson doesn’t just go one step: he confronts the self-destructive male world no other perspective versus what ultimately makes BlackBerry smaller than the story actually is. Glenn Howerton delivers a terrific performance and it’s a lot of fun to swim with him through the shark tank. Most of the time, however, BlackBerry goes in circles around itself.
The fact that the film completely excludes any female characters, for example, is on the one hand indicative of the world it depicts and on the other hand a missed opportunity. However, Johnson pulls off the final spot landing just as impressively as Fincher, using the frenzy we’ve seen before with a amazing moment of impotence collide. Suddenly there is calm.
*. . .