Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Matt Johnson
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Rich Sommer, Michael
Ironside, Martin Donovan, Saul Rubinek, Cary Elwes
At some point over the last couple of decades I became something of a
luddite. I listen to my music on CDs, records and cassettes; I prefer
blurays and DVDs over streaming; and I find it close to impossible to
read anything in depth on a screen rather than a page. Were it possible,
I'd handwrite my film reviews instead of having to deal with the
internet. Much of this is down to the simple fact that modern tech is
rubbish. Sure, there have been huge advances in the past couple of
decades, but very few products actually function as they're supposed to.
Streams lag, software freezes, content disappears, apps no longer work
on your current device etc. Consumers are as much to blame for this as
producers, as people are so desperate to have the newest product that
they'll gladly fork out for what would have been considered a prototype
in a past era. Creators who take pride in their product were nudged out
a couple of decades ago by salespeople who couldn't care less about the
product, only the profits.
Director Matt Johnson's Blackberry gives us some
insight into how this came to be. Working with co-writer
Matthew Miller, Johnson tells the story of the rise and fall of
the Blackberry phone. It's a classic tale of a creator with integrity
being pushed aside by a shark who tastes consumer blood in the
water.
It's 1996 and techie Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) has a great
idea for a new product – a computer inside a phone. Unfortunately he has
no idea how to sell his idea, nor does his "business partner" Douglas
Fregin (Johnson), who doesn't seem to have any of Mike's talent but
shares top billing at their unfortunately named company, RIM (Research
in Motion). When a pitch meeting with the vampiric Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) goes as badly as all their others, Mike and Douglas resign themselves
to more failure. But when Jim is fired from his company he takes another
look at Mike's idea and sees dollar signs.
If you've seen
The Founder, which tells the story of the roots of McDonalds, you'll be familiar
with how this goes down. Like Michael Keaton in that movie, Jim worms
his way into RIM (God, that really sounds bad) and becomes co-CEO
alongside Mike. As they pitch their product, the pair form a good cop,
bad cop duo with Jim storming into conference rooms like a manic force
of nature while the socially awkward Mike mumbles his way through
presentations. Eventually it pays off as communications network Verizon
picks up the device, whose name is derived here from a sloppy eating
accident, and Jim and Mike are soon rolling in cash.
If you're wondering why you haven't seen a Blackberry in anyone's hands
in the last 10 years, Johnson's film details just why that's the case.
It's very much a rise and fall story, and Johnson does a great job of
communicating the adrenalin rush felt by those on the way up. We can see
why Mike is swept away by Jim's energy, mesmerised by cash flow to the
point where he begins to compromise his ideals. "Perfect is the enemy of
good," is one of Jim's mantras, and Mike gradually begins to fall for
it, ultimately leading to a compromised product and the company's
downfall (along with the small matter of Jim's illegal business
practices).
A movie about a phone has no right to be this entertaining, and it's
largely down to a tantalising performance by Howerton, an actor best
known for his role on long-running sitcom
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Howerton plays Jim like a delirious mix of Christian Bale's Patrick
Bateman and Alec Baldwin's foul-mouthed salesman from
Glengarry Glen Ross. Much of the humour comes from Jim's reactions to being surrounded by
young men who are far more clever than he is but can't seem to function
as adults. Many times Johnson will just cut to Howerton's stone faced
reaction in an example of the Kuleshov Effect that could make it onto
future film school syllabuses. And just when you think Howerton's Jim is
the scariest man in the room, he only goes and hires a Chief of
Operations played by arguably the most intimidating actor who ever
graced a screen – Michael Ironside!!!
While Johnson's film zips along at a rapid pace, much like its titular
product it does outstay its welcome to a degree as it approaches the two
hour mark. The film's final half hour charts the destruction of the
titular company and the people involved, but Johnson is unable to inject
this portion with the sort of energy Scorsese brought to the similar
downfall climax of Goodfellas. That said, it's testament to
Johnson's storytelling skills that we're still invested in the lead
players at that point, despite them being the sort of people we'd cross
the road to avoid in real life. One of the guilty pleasures of cinema is
being able to root for assholes, and there are few bigger assholes than
Jim Balsillie, or at least this version of him.
