BlackBerry Review

This is probably the first year in a while that I have seen a record amount of movies. It helps to know that my city has a local film club, which helps me get exposed to different types of movies from elsewhere and here domestically. As I explained last week, I’ll be talking about a few select films that I really enjoyed in the theater. You may have heard of them or just not be completely aware of their existence since there was a strike and publicity was extremely limited. With that, let’s start. 

1. Changing the Phone

If there’s one reason why I wanted to watch Blackberry is because of one actor. Glenn Howerton has been made famous with the FX series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That show is a topic for another day, but Howerton’s performance in the series is probably one of the best. When acting with a bunch of rejects, you’d expect him to be the sane one. Absolutely not, his untethered rage is a sight to see in that show and in this movie. 

I’m getting ahead of myself, at the very least the film is about the unexpected rise and fall of the Blackberry phone. Since the film is a bio-pic and the only real rule is to have the one defining moment representing what the main character or in this case thing be what it’s known for. Much like the film Steve Jobs, it spans from three different years to show the company’s significant moments. Both good and bad since it would be entirely biased or just wax poetic on a neat device. 

We follow Mike and his friend Doug as they develop a new device but are extremely bad at pitching it to an investor. Juxtapose with Jim, the one hearing about the device but joins them to turn the company around. From there we see just how the characters represent Mike. While he’s an inventor, he’s very shy and timid and usually lets his friend speak for him. There couldn’t be a better duality of men when we see Doug who’s very loose and constantly wearing a head band. Then you got Jim who’s strictly business but is completely ballistic. 

Obviously, what the film is going for is having this angel/devil on the shoulder dynamic since Mike is caught in the middle with wanting to create something but also be taken seriously. Not just in personality, but we see that whenever he’s with either of him. More so when Mike’s with Jim making meetings and with Doug just hanging out. The moment when Mike changes his personality that mirrors Jim is something else. 

Aside from that, the shots where we see the development of the device is also the main highlight. It’s almost hilarious when we think that they have the raw materials to create the device, but they just go to a store to buy various products. Only to open them up to get their chips and what nots to have a prototype that would be the Blackberry. 

2. Corporate Bio-Pics

For whatever reason, this year there was an odd influx of corporate bio-pic films. Famously, you had Ben Affleck’s Air that shows how Nike signed an unknown basketball player to a shoe deal that changed everything. Tetris from Apple Films that shows the odd story of how Nintendo got the Soviet game. And then we have Flamin’ Hot from Disney. Now, this type of sub-genre isn’t entirely new. 

One of the most beloved films of this century is The Social Network. While the whole idea is the creation of Facebook, it shows just how creating one site ruined a friendship. Not to dismiss the others that were named, mostly it’s about taking a chance in something where everybody wrote them off. It works for Air in the context that nobody thought Jordan would be successful. For Blackberry, it showcases that nobody won when the going got tough. 

Specifically, it focuses on Mike being the worst of himself in terms of playing catch up to his other competitors. He loses himself when he chooses profits over creating something that is too perfect to be fixed. The final shot of the film symbolizes that with him looking over boxes of unshipped phones and slowly replacing one after one. It’s tragic and cathartic where he sacrificed everything and it all lead to his friend leaving him.

3. Overall

Blackberry is one of the best Indie films of this year. And an unorthodox corporate bio-pic that shows a rise and fall like no other.