By Seth Lukas Hynes
BlackBerry
Starring Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton and Matt Johnson
Rated M
3.75/5
BlackBerry is a smart, funny historical drama about the rise and fall of BlackBerry, which was once the world’s leading smartphone brand.
As with Oppenheimer and Tetris, BlackBerry uses its very technical subject matter as a focal point to explore its engaging characters and their journeys.
Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel), co-founder of RIM and creator of the BlackBerry, is a naïve, awkward engineering genius gradually ground down by his heavy business responsibilities, and Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) is the aggressive marketing dynamo behind BlackBerry’s success.
Much of BlackBerry takes place in workshops and board meetings, and the BlackBerry is an obsolete, even obscure product nowadays, but the fast-paced plot has clever dialogue and relatable themes to latch onto. These include buzzing electronics, Chinese manufacturing, the importance of online data and the tectonic shift of the iPhone launch, and Blackberry depicts an all-too-common collision of innovation and greed.
BlackBerry has annoying shaky camerawork, and Matt Johnson leaves little impression as Doug Fregin, Lazaridis’ best friend and the other co-founder of RIM. Fregin is both a supportive partner and a Napoleon Dynamite-style free-spirited distraction, but contributes little to the narrative. The following reading might betray my Apple bias, but if Lazaridis is BlackBerry’s Steve Wozniak and Balsillie is their Steve Jobs, Fregin feels like a third wheel in the plot. BlackBerry also loses focus in the final act, with some last-minute conflict involving Balsillie’s attempt to buy a hockey team.
A witty, energetic portrayal of one of the biggest successes and failures in modern tech, marred by an extraneous main character and a slightly sloppy third
