Ahhh….technology…..the must-have virtue of our modern lives. Whatever you may think of your latest toy, there is always going to be somebody determined to make something that has a little more of what you have and try and do it slicker, better and more brutally overpowering.
Well, whilst you switch your smartphones off ahead of your next screening, either on the big-screen or plasma, spare a thought for the then-enterprising individuals that brought that seemingly now-most-retro of devices, the Blackberry, into our existence.
The plight and subsequent distintegration of a seemingly solid business plan comes to the fore in the brand-new factual drama BLACKBERRY.
It’s 1996, the year when INDEPENDENCE DAY was obliterating the USA (both on-screen and at the box-office worldwide) and England were within a sliding foot of reaching the Euro ’96 final against Germany at Wembley.
However, in a place a few thousand miles away called Silicon Valley, two enterprisingly imaginative techies, Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and his business partner-cum-mate Douglas Fregin (Matt Johnson) seize on a concept which could change the way people communicate – a phone that does it all, complete with keyboard.
The dot-com revolution certainly seems to have arrived for these two seemingly savvy intellects – and with help from businessman Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), who has the contacts (and most importantly, the cash!) their idea, the ‘Blackberry’ soon becomes a media and technological sensation, attracting everyone across the board in fame, fortune and political unrest. All seems well, but a little guy by the name of Steve Jobs might have something else to say about this concept of their’s….
There have been a few movies in recent years that have capitalised on the boom-and-bust of business ideas, most recently THE BEANIE BUBBLE with Elizabeth Banks and it’s something that was explored around the time that the Blackberry was been conceived in Martin Scorsese’s CASINO, in the context of the Mob-run casinos that Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci were trying to curate and be bigger than big.
That’s not to say BLACKBERRY, which co-star Matt Johnson directs with a script he co-wrote with producer Matthew Miller, is any less enjoyable. Indeed, the chaotic explosiveness of how the Blackberry came to fruition, as well as the fact that the broadband went into meltdown due to the incredible demands of supply for those who – like those who have recently demanded the iPhone 15, with fights breaking out across stores on opening release day – wanted it yesterday is as captivatingly bittersweet – and on occasion, very funny still.
However, like most things we see in the context of technology there is a finite and sometimes brutally minute shelf-life for these things, given the rise of streaming over big-screen releases due to the recent pandemic. The biggest criticism is that the story is a variation on a theme that is overly familiar if you have seen a few of these. Overall though, just watch it out of curiousity about how this particularly bittersweet tale unfolds.
BLACKBERRY gets an exclusive release in UK and Irish Cinemas from 6th October, 2023.
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