Critics’ reviews

Steve Jobs (2015)

24 reviews from 24 publications. Critics’ score 74: 18 positive, 4 mixed, 2 negative.

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74
Positive
18
Mixed
4
Negative
2

Most critics respond warmly to Steve Jobs, with praise centred on Michael Fassbender’s performance and Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue. Fassbender’s ability to convey intelligence, charisma and cruelty earns approval even from several detractors, while Kate Winslet and the supporting cast also draw praise. The three-act structure, set backstage before product launches, is widely admired for turning an unconventional biography into concentrated personal drama. Danny Boyle’s direction is generally credited with keeping the verbal confrontations energetic and engaging.

The spread is nevertheless wide, with disagreement over whether those repeated confrontations deepen the portrait or make it feel contrived. Several reviews find the dialogue overbearing and the treatment of Jobs too admiring, while others see a persuasive account of his flaws. Little White Lies argues that the schematic screenplay restricts nuance; Film Comment finds a conventional, hollow film beneath the unusual structure. Even some favourable reviews flag sentimentality as a weakness.

Empire
28 October 2015 · Ian Nathan
90*

The backstage drama across three launches is operatic, articulate and thrilling thanks to Sorkin's virtuoso dialogue and Fassbender's mesmerizing central performance; Boyle directs with maturity and focus, making it entertaining and relevant like a tech-world Citizen Kane.

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The Guardian
12 November 2015 · Peter Bradshaw
90*

The critic praises the commanding performance by Michael Fassbender and Aaron Sorkin’s scorching script as Danny Boyle delivers an exhilarating portrait of the visionary tech mastermind. The film is an intimate and theatrically ingenious piece focused on three private crises before product launches.

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The Hollywood Reporter
5 September 2015 · festival review · Todd McCarthy
90*

The critic praises Danny Boyle’s electric direction and Aaron Sorkin’s theatrical three-act structure as a high-energy study of Jobs’ ambition and relationships. Fassbender’s performance is singled out for capturing the character’s brilliance, force, and emotional distance.

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The New York Times
8 October 2015 · A.O. Scott
90*

The film is a formally audacious and intellectually energized entertainment that challenges Hollywood storytelling conventions while offering a rich document of its times. It burnishes the image of its visionary subject even as it examines the machinery behind his persona, with standout performances from Michael Fassbender and others.

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Variety
6 September 2015 · festival review
85*

An enthralling performance by Michael Fassbender fuels this brilliant, infuriating and richly unconventional take on the life of an American visionary. It is a bravura backstage farce and wildly creative fantasia in three acts that insists Jobs' gift for innovation was inextricable from his capacity for cruelty.

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Evening Standard
13 November 2015 · Charlotte O'Sullivan
80*

The unusual melodrama takes liberties with facts but captures the spirit of Jobs through excellent performances, especially Fassbender's possessed turn and Winslet's steady supporting role; the witty dialogue and thematic connections make it engaging despite its stagey structure.

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Radio Times
★★★★ · Stephen Carty
80

The critic calls it an enjoyable, atypical biopic with compelling Fassbender performance and witty Sorkin dialogue, though notes some contrived elements in the repeated confrontations.

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Screen Daily
4 October 2015 · festival review
80*

The critic hails it as a triumph in screenwriting, direction and ensemble acting led by Fassbender and Winslet, a propulsive biopic that is a dispiriting study of capitalistic self-aggrandisement yet set for awards attention.

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Time Out
6 September 2015 · ★★★★ · David Ehrlich
80

The critic praises the sharp, savage Sorkin script and Fassbender's blistering performance as a megalomaniac genius, but notes the film suffers from split personality and ends with Boyle's sentimental impulses.

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Financial Times
11 October 2015 · Nigel Andrews
70*

Michael Fassbender is a spooky, unnerving presence as the Apple founder in Danny Boyle’s film. The three-act structure backstage at product launches makes for a claustrophobic yet powerful exercise in character pathology, with the director and writer opening up the anatomy of a genius.

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The New Yorker
9 October 2015 · Anthony Lane
70*

The movie structures its story around three product launches and delivers a standard dichotomy of Jobs as both monster and genius, though it ultimately suggests something heroic about his flaws. Fassbender's meticulous performance anchors this portrait, which feels strangely old-fashioned in its romantic insistence on the hero despite the modern setting.

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Little White Lies
11 November 2015 · 4/3/2 · Ashley Clark
60

The critic finds the film bogged down in self-satisfied Sorkinese dialogue and repetitive structure, robbing it of nuance and character depth. Boyle's visual style and the strong cast are noted but ultimately overwhelmed by the schematic screenplay.

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Slant Magazine
4 October 2015 · ★★/4 · Steve Macfarlane
50

The critic finds the film ultimately hagiographic despite its ambitious three-act structure and strong performances. Sorkin’s verbose dialogue and the focus on Jobs’ redemption are highlighted as weaknesses.

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The Independent
18 October 2015 · Recommended
50*

The unconventional biopic structured around three product launches starts dynamically with witty Sorkin dialogue and strong performances but loses steam in the final section by portraying Jobs increasingly as a messiah figure, turning the daughter relationship melodramatic.

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Film Comment
1 September 2015 · Michael Sragow
40*

The critic finds the film conventional and hollow despite its unconventional structure, describing it as a victory lap that fails to deliver irony or vision. Fassbender's performance is praised as impressive, but the overall approach is seen as too accessible and stage-bound.

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Deadline
9 October 2015 · Pete Hammond
90*

The critic calls the film a smart, complex anti-biopic that gets to the essence of its subject through a three-act structure focused on product launches. Sorkin’s dazzling script and Boyle’s direction are singled out for praise, along with Fassbender’s intelligent, never-faltering lead performance.

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Den of Geek
4 October 2015 · ★★★★½ · David Crow
90

The film demonizes and flatters Jobs to tremendous effect through its three-act structure focused on product launches. Fassbender delivers a tour de force performance that embodies Jobs' essence and charisma despite physical differences.

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Digital Spy
4 October 2015 · Emma Dibdin
85*

Boyle and Sorkin deliver a skilful character study closer to Shakespearean melodrama than a traditional biopic, with Fassbender giving a savagely compelling performance. The operatic, full-blooded direction and sharp human drama probe the divide between persona and person effectively.

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The Playlist
5 October 2015 · festival review · The Playlist Staff
85*

The film is a quick-footed character study and dazzling showcase of Aaron Sorkin's dialogue, structured around three product launches that highlight the high cost of genius and themes of fatherhood. It praises the energetic performances, especially Michael Fassbender's portrayal of Jobs, and Danny Boyle's restrained direction that lets the script shine.

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NME
11 November 2015 · Nick Levine
80*

Though it may not stick rigidly to the facts, the film is a riveting, slick and smart high-class entertainment with a terrific Fassbender performance capturing Jobs' charisma and cruelty. The three-act structure behind product launches succeeds as engaging character study.

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The Skinny
21 October 2015 · ★★★★ · Ben Nicholson
80

A breakneck Sorkin script and Fassbender's subtle, confident performance result in a meticulously constructed character study of vision and faults. The three-act structure chronicles fictionalised pre-launch moments, delivering a nuanced portrait beyond simple character assassination.

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/Film
10 October 2015 · Angie Han
75*

The film excels at revealing the flawed, human Steve Jobs behind the icon through intimate backstage conversations at three launches, with strong performances from the cast led by Michael Fassbender. It singles out the rhythmic dialogue and theatricality for praise but notes the third act feels rushed and overly resolved.

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The Wrap
7 October 2015
50*

The film is seen as an incomplete portrait that leaves blanks unfilled despite its unconventional three-launch structure and strong cast. Fassbender is praised for evoking Jobs’ intelligence and cruelty, keeping viewers engaged even as the overall mosaic feels unfinished.

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Polygon
5 October 2015 · Allegra Frank
40*

The critic finds the film forced and unbalanced overall. Its script is strong but the film fails to reveal the elusive Apple founder, with Boyle's direction often distracting from the dialogue and melodramatic elements undermining the three-act structure.

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Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate