BlackBerry is a tale of Glenn Howerton’s bald ambition
BlackBerry landing in theatres is the cinematic equivalent of finding one of your old mobile phones at the back of a bric-a-brac drawer – a forgotten artefact from a bygone era that you’d pretty much forgotten. Directed by Matt Johnson, the film captures the meteoric rise and precipitous crash of Research in Motion (RIM), creators of the once-coveted BlackBerry, a technological phenomenon whose scorched-earth transformation from cultural ubiquity to obscurity has only ever been equalled by Game Of Thrones releasing Season 8.
It all begins with RIM, a modest company brimming with ambition: to merge a cell phone, pager, and email into one handheld marvel. Jay Baruchel stars as Mike Lazaridis, the socially awkward tech genius, while Glenn Howerton portrays Jim Balsillie, the aggressive CEO whose manic energy isn’t a million miles away from his It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia character. The duo’s chemistry drives the film forward through its carefully curated turn of the millennium techno-optimism.
There’s an innate likeability to the film, with its brisk storytelling and sly humour, spotlighting the absurdities of the tech industry with a deft touch and a little compassion thanks to Baruchel’s humanity. Sharp dialogue and a well-constructed screenplay ensures the two-hour runtime never lags. The depiction of RIM’s “Nerd Central” is both endearing and entertaining, capturing the chaotic blend of brilliance and immaturity typical of early tech startups, an ersatz forerunner of The Big Bang Theory’s foundational premise.
BlackBerry works as more than just another biopic; it’s a stark reminder of the dangers of unbridled ambition and hubris and the necessity of continuous innovation. As RIM rises, it fails to foresee the impending threats posed by Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s advances and just when his oft-self-declared business insight is needed most, Balsillie’s distracting ambitions to own an NHL franchise, precipitates the company’s decline. It’s the modern business tale as told as time: technological supremacy is fleeting and today’s tech titan is tomorrow’s e-waste landfill.
Despite its many strong features, BlackBerry still has a few bugs. The stylistic choices – shaky cam and fast zoom-ins akin to The Office – feel derivative and occasionally undermine the sense that you’re watching a true story rather than a satirical comedy. But perhaps most of all there is a running gag about Lazaridis hearing an annoying buzz that drives him to distraction, something the movie metatextually recreates with Glenn Howerton’s egregious, pull-you-out-of-the-movie bad bald make-up job.
BlackBerry finds itself the latest in a steady stream of overtly corporate biopics like The Founder, Tetris, and The Social Network raising intriguing questions about the genre’s intent. Are these films acting as subtle pro-corporate propaganda, encouraging audiences to empathise with and admire corporate entities. By humanising corporate figures and glossing over contextually rehabilitating ethical missteps, these films are gradually reshaping public perception, making the concept of corporate personhood more palatable. It’s a sophisticated form of audience manipulation that extends way beyond mere product placement, aiming to foster a more accepting attitude towards the corporate giants that dominate our world, in the same way that the spate of pro-alien films of the late seventies was thought to be softening up the populace for first contact to actually take place. After all, the real story of BlackBerry isn’t the sleazy stock manipulation or the technological hubris – it’s the window into a commercial world where the telecommunication giants figured out they could exploit their customer base more by stopping selling minutes of airtime and instead charging for data if they colluded with the manufacturers to develop devices that grew ever more data-hungry.
BlackBerry is a well-crafted film that offers both entertainment and insight into the volatile world of tech innovation. A tale of ambition, rivalry, and the relentless drive for the next big thing, brought to life by strong performances and a sharp script. Whether you’re nostalgic for the days of the CrackBerry or simply enjoy a well-told underdog story, BlackBerry still has the features you really want.
