---
title: "Steve Jobs: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/steve-jobs/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/steve-jobs"
critics_score: 74
critics_reviews: 24
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Steve Jobs (2015): what the critics said

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

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 — Ian Nathan

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/steve-jobs-review/)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 November 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/12/steve-jobs-review-apple-co-founder-danny-boyle-michael-fassbender-aaron-sorkin)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 September 2015. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/steve-jobs-telluride-review-820561/)

## The New York Times — A.O. Scott

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/movies/review-steve-jobs-apples-visionary-ceo-dissected.html)

## Variety

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 September 2015. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/steve-jobs-review-michael-fassbender-telluride-film-festival-1201586996/)

## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 13 November 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/steve-jobs-film-review-jobs-made-to-look-mac-ulate-a3113931.html)

## Radio Times — Stephen Carty

Rating 4/5. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-56ruff/steve-jobs/)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 4 October 2015. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/steve-jobs-review/5095020.article)

## Time Out — David Ehrlich

Rating 4/5. 6 September 2015. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/steve-jobs)

## Financial Times — Nigel Andrews

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/e932ea24-700f-11e5-9b9e-690fdae72044)

## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 9 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/wonder-boys)

## Little White Lies — Ashley Clark

Rating 4/3/2. 11 November 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/steve-jobs)

## Slant Magazine — Steve Macfarlane

Rating 2/4. 4 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/steve-jobs/)

## The Independent

Rating Recommended. 18 October 2015. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/steve-jobs-film-review-danny-boyle-captures-the-apple-gurus-showmanship-but-the-film-runs-out-of-steam-a6699011.html)

## Film Comment — Michael Sragow

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/steve-jobs-michael-fassbender-aaron-sorkin-danny-boyle-review/)

## Deadline — Pete Hammond

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://deadline.com/2015/10/steve-jobs-review-michael-fassbender-aaron-sorkin-seth-rogen-1201572524/)

## Den of Geek — David Crow

Rating 4.5/5. 4 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/steve-jobs-review/)

## Digital Spy — Emma Dibdin

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 4 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a671835/steve-jobs-review-michael-fassbender-is-savagely-compelling/)

## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2015. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-danny-boyles-aaron-sorkin-penned-steve-jobs-starring-michael-fassbender-is-a-rush-of-blood-to-the-head-20151005/)

## NME — Nick Levine

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 November 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-various-artists-16334-308957)

## The Skinny — Ben Nicholson

Rating 4/5. 21 October 2015. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](http://www.theskinny.co.uk/festivals/uk-festivals/film/london-film-festival-steve-jobs)

## /Film — Angie Han

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/540304/steve-jobs-review/)

## The Wrap

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 7 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/steve-jobs-review-michael-fassbender-kate-winslet-aaron-sorkin/)

## Polygon — Allegra Frank

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2015. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2015/10/5/9454191/steve-jobs-movie-review-aaron-sorkin-michael-fassbender/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/steve-jobs.md