BlackBerry

Acesa e caduta dell'inventore dello smartphone in un vortice di emozioni e di personaggi piuttosto particolari che finiscono con il sovrastare il vero andamento degli eventi, che pure resta visibile ma senza dubbio non centrale. La scelta di dare centralità alle persone rende il film probabilmente più fruibile al pubblico anche se non è sempre del tutto chiaro cosa sia successo nell'arco di quei pochi anni all'azienda e i momenti salienti che l'hanno portata ad essere da una start up ad un colosso della tecnologia. I personaggi sono comunque costruiti bene e portano personalità estremamente diversificate che, quando messe insieme, sono in grado di formare dialoghi vari e schietti ma soprattutto con tutti i personaggi che portano avanti idee ed opinioni credibili seppure opposte tra di loro. Costumi senza dubbio particolari e forse leggermente troppo centrali anch'essi ma senza dubbio in linea con la traccia del regista. Storia comunque molto interessante ed assolutamente ben raccontata; qualche elemento in più l'avrebbe forse maggiormente valorizzata.

This is one of those hidden gems. Its very well produced, actors and actress are great so I really dont know why I didnt hear about this movie before. Please watch it. Half star shy from 5 stars cause I wished they would have made a longer movie about the story. I would´ve watched it for 4 hours :)

An excellent biopic

Awesome to see BlackBerry get some recognition as the grandfather of smartphones, this movie shows the rise & fall of BlackBerry, might not sound too interesting but I enjoyed this more than The Social Network or Jobs. I did a fact check after the movie & most of what they showed was accurate besides the exaggeration of some people's personalities which is common when real things make it to the big screen for entertainment. Overall, an accurate & neat movie about real people & incidents.

This is an incredible movie, showing the journey of the once "on top of the world" smartphone, Blackberry. It shows the struggle of a smaller tech company in Canada trying to compete with the big companies in the United States such as Apple. There's a great mix of dramatic scenes as well as some well placed comedy. The acting is incredible, especially Glenn Howerton who plays Jim Balsillie, the business man who was fired from his previous job and becomes the co-CEO of Research in Motion or RIM (which eventually developed the BlackBerry) and becomes the handler of the business side of the company. Jay Baruchel is also excellent in this flick, playing Mike Lazaridis, the other CEO of RIM, being more the "brains" behind the technology. Aside from the acting, the cinematography was captivating, with clever techniques such as filming conversations shot through the outer windows and sudden zooms when capturing emotion. It makes you wonder what could've been if the technology of the BlackBerry was handled differently.

Fairly gritty, very good acting, fun to watch, solid 3.8/4

What makes this product bio-pic unique, (It is strange that we live in that "product bio-pic" is a genre) is the fact that this is a product that follows the story arc of a rockstar. It has both a rise to stardom and a fall from grace. With products like "Air", "Tetris" and "Flaming Hot Cheetos" the product goes up and doesn't ever really fade away to obscurity. The fact that this product has such a specific niche of popularity, the film makers are able to be more self-deprecating than the other products. The movie is full of some very funny people, and it has some good jokes throughout. What keeps this film from being a great comedy is the fact that the characters are not very likable. You end up rooting for their failure. The film is good enough.

A tight little rise and fall story of the tech we've already forgotten.

A very engaging hidden gem of a biopic movie set in rather recent history. The movie does a terrific job luring you in with some hilarious relatable dorky office comedy hijinks, then exciting you with their ingenious technological brainstorming that revolutionizes the cellphone industry, only to succumb to the weight of their own hubris and ineptitude as the tension and drama unfolds throughout the second half of the movie. The acting all across the board is amazing and the characters really hit that strive between brilliant, moronic, belligerent, and emotionally captivating. It’s like watching The Wolf of Wallstreet being run by Ed, Edd, n’ Eddy. You really feel the betrayal and crumbling of the co-founders’ friendship as the film goes on and Mike buys more and more into Jim’s soulless and spineless business mindset due to his own selfish spineless indecision and shifting priorities, all while Jim’s short temper and short-sighted greed flourishes. Through all of this, Doug is the only one to consistently maintain his integrity and genuine moral support of his coworkers and friends before business. And even though he loses a close friend and leaves the company, in the end, he makes it out on top and maintains what he’s always loved in the first place: geeking around with his closest friends. It’s a fascinating look into the revolutionary early days of the smart phone and the sad fates of those who break new ground eventually getting overshadowed by others who perfect what they started. ProZD’s cameo role was a nice cherry on top to this wonderful sundae surprise. The historical inaccuracies of the characters’ personalities can be a flaw, but the movie has such an absurdist take with them that it almost mitigates it for the fun wild ride it wants to have with this premise. It’s a terrific biopic dramedy and easily one of my favorite films of the year.

This movie is very much like 'Goodfellas.' Howerton is the Pesci of the film. 😂