post_page_cover

Jay Baruchel Stars in Surprising Exploration of Greed

Feb 18, 2023

Home Movie Reviews ‘BlackBerry’ Review: Jay Baruchel & Glenn Howerton Star in Surprising Exploration of Corporate Greed | Berlinale 2023

Matt Johnson’s new movie pushes the boundaries of a docudrama by adding fun, surprise, and exciting the dramatization of a dense true history.

Everyday technology expands so fast and with such intensity that high-tech novelties tend to consume history itself. For instance, it’s hard to imagine a world where Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS were not the leading players of the cellphone game. Still, a little more than a decade ago, BlackBerry portables were coveted by every teenager and used by businessmen as a symbol of status. Directed by Matt Johnson, BlackBerry is a new docudrama that proposes to explore the rise and fall of the once-popular cell phone brand and its parent company, Research In Motion (RIM). And while the subject might seem uninteresting to people who just don’t care about what happens inside big corporations, with BlackBerry, Johnson manages to craft a thrilling and moving story about friendship, pride, and the brutality of the free market.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY

BlackBerry takes us back to 1996, when visionary engineer Mike Lazaridis (played by Jay Baruchel) came up with an idea to revolutionize the communication market: putting an email machine inside a cell phone. While we are all very used to our smartphones nowadays, it hasn’t been long since Lazaridis granted us internet access on the go. Even so, the BlackBerry brand has become almost unknown to younger generations, making Lazaridis’ story ever more tragic.

While Lazaridis had the best ideas and the will to implement them to perfection, he lacked the business spirit needed to actually sell phones. That’s why he joins forces with salesman Jim Balsillie (played by Glenn Howerton), a cutthroat capitalist who couldn’t care less about the quality of Lazaridis’ inventions. And so began RIM’s journey to dominate the phone market in the US and the world, with Balsillie pushing for an aggressive expansion while Lazaridis tried to remain on his moral high ground.

RELATED: ‘Somebody I Used to Know’ Review: Alison Brie Gets Vulnerable in Reflective Romance

Baruchel and Howerton play their parts to perfection, showing how the opposite personalities of RIM co-CEOs helped to keep the company ahead of competitors for over a decade. But BlackBerry also plays as a tragedy, as we watch Lazaridis compromise his beliefs in favor of achieving the impossible goals set both by Balsillie and external forces willing to engulf RIM’s market. That’s what makes Johnson’s movie work so well. Since Johnson’s camera is concerned about the truth of RIM’s story, BlackBerry cautiously explores the intricacies of the corporate world. Simultaneously, the movie still manages to keep the audience invested thanks to the emotional stakes of its very human characters.

BlackBerry’s two leads are not alone in turning a corporate docudrama into a touching story, as Matt Johnson’s Douglas “Doug” Fregin, Lazaridis’ goofball friend, helped him create the RIM company long before Balsillie came into the picture. And for the entire duration of BlackBerry, Doug will try to keep Lazaridis grounded, pouring all his energies into making sure RIM is a company worth working for, where all kinds of nerds can feel welcomed. While Doug often serves as a comedic relief and helps to keep set the funny tone of BlackBerry, he’s also the emotional heart of the movie, a permanent reminder that some dreams are not worth selling, lest we lose our souls.

There’s no question BlackBerry does a beautiful job documenting the history of RIM. Based on Jacquie McNish’s book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, Johnson’s docudrama never refrains from exploring the minutia of the corporate business. The movie is not only an homage to Lazaridis’ groundbreaking technology, but it also dwells on the legal frauds and fake business promises that make the money machine keep turning in the capitalistic system. It also documents with precision internal errors and external surprises that eventually lead to the BlackBerry brand becoming obsolete. Still, Johnson’s new movie pushes the boundaries of a docudrama by adding fun, surprise, and exciting the dramatization of a dense true history. And in doing so, Johnson makes a complex matter easy to digest and extremely entertaining.

Rating: A

BlackBerry had its world premiere at 2023’s Berlin Film Festival.

Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by filmibee.
Publisher: Source link

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Jennifer Lopez Asked About Turning 60, Age

Jennifer Lopez Asked About Turning 60, Age Never ask a woman her age, a man his salary, or Jennifer Lopez how she feels about turning 60. On Sunday, the actor was interviewed by Variety amid the release of her new…

Dec 21, 2024

Lala Kent Shares Text With Ally Lewber After James Kennedy’s Arrest

The BCU (Bravo Cinematic Universe) was shaken on March 3, 2023, when it was confirmed that Tom and Ariana had ended their nine-year relationship amid the revelation that he'd had a seven-month affair with Raquel.  "I made mistakes, I was…

Dec 21, 2024

Vote For Your 2024 Person Of The Year

Vote For Your 2024 Person Of The Year One thing we can all agree on is that Donald Trump being named Time's Person of the Year was a terrible choice. So, I'm here to provide y'all with a worthy alternative.…

Dec 20, 2024

Plane Crash Near Buffalo Bills Player Dion Dawkins’ Property Kills One

Buffalo Bills Player Dion Dawkins Speaks Out Following Fatal Plane Crash on His PropertyFootball player Dion Dawkins is speaking out following a deadly plane crash in Aurora, N.Y. The Buffalo Bills offensive lineman missed part of practice on Dec. 19…

Dec 20, 2024