BlackBerry

Handily mops the floor with Air, the trite biz bio from earlier in the year. With excellent performances all round and Howerton finally getting to pop off on the big screen, we get a thrilling dive into the failed biz and engaging themes about drive and the toll of desperate successes in capitalism. Tone is perfect showing the breezy beginnings as a start up having fun, charming moments with an inevitable descent into the worst workplace around as they rocket to success and inevitable downfall.

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"BlackBerry" is a compelling exploration of the turbulent trajectory of one of the tech industry's once shining stars. It manages to strike a balance between a corporate drama and a human story, albeit with a few narrative missteps and underdeveloped plotlines.

Wildly entertaining. The perfect role for Glenn Howerton.

Shockingly well-crafted comedy biopic where sometimes the facts come second, about a story that many people are only loosely aware of. I love this. Jay Baruchel has never been better, and Glenn Howerton's version of Jim Balsillie is exactly what I wanted: cartoonishly evil with an obsessive fixation on bringing hockey to Hamilton. This Canadian "The Social Network" delivers consistent funnies and a compelling, kinetic story. It might just be the most fun to be had at the theatres this weekend.

Impeccably paced, written, and acted. Glenn Howerton screams through the whole movie and it's consistently funny, and that all comes down to his amazing little character choices; you never quite know how he might explode, and each instance feels unique and tailored to the scene at hand. It's actually a masterclass of performing fury. But his performance would be a mere blot on the radar if the rest of the film didn't also hold up under scrutiny.

"BlackBerry" is a riveting tale about the rise and fall of the iconic phone. Baruchel shines as Mike Lazaridis, a tech nerd, clashing with Glenn Howerton's Jim Balsillie, a ruthless businessman. Despite their differences, they influence each other, adding comic energy to the film about this fleeting phenomenon. BlackBerry's decline is known, but Lazaridis' fate keeps us gripped.

I detest that the "product biopic" has become a trend, but this is a clear exception. I knew Matt Johnson would bring a distinctive take on this subject. Jay Baruchel feels like he's actually playing a character for once instead of just the same archetype that has largely defined his career, and he does a good job. Glenn Howerton is excellent, and I love that he played the role 100% straight instead of giving it a little comedic wink-wink-nudge-nudge. And Johnson himself is really good too

(THE SMARTPHONE NETWORK)

Matt Johnson paired SungWon Cho with Jay McCarrol's score, with the best thing Glenn Howerton's ever done? A mayonnaise masterpiece.

This very engaging dark comedy wisely skips the middle of the story. We get the company's rise, it's struggle to deal with it's insanely rapid sales threatening to crash it's network (and fighting off a hostile takeover from PalmPilot), but then we pretty much skip to the downfall.

Matt Johnson is a force.

Fabulously entertaining. A sizzling marriage of The Social Network and Whiplash as seen through the lens of an episode of The Office. Glenn Howerton gives the most pissed-off performance of the year. The film’s second half loses the zest and propulsive pace of the first half, but ends strong with a last scene that’s surprisingly heartbreaking, even a little haunting.

BlackBerry is just a fun and at times thrilling business centric Biopic. Glenn Howerton's performance really is worthy of all the hype. Jay Baruchel turns in a good Joe Pera impression as well (but seriously he's also great in this). Stylistically It's not a very flashy movie, but technically everything is just so grounded and done extremely well. I guess it just suffers from being a smaller Canadian film, because otherwise I really would have expected it to have gotten more awards buzz.

This is an interesting story. I had a BlackBerry - I liked the whole keyboard on a phone aspect but we all know which company succeeded in terms of BlackBerry vs iPhone. Its a little stale for people looking for a fast paced, action packed kind of a film but this is a biopic based on a specific subject and time, so will mainly appeal to people interested in that. I liked the information via text with accompanying genuine (I assume genuine) photos at the end of the film, prior to end credits.

Howerton and Baruchel were both great. There's a lot of kinetic energy in here that makes the experience more exciting than it would have otherwise been. I didn't see a trailer or anything so the way the film was shot was unexpected and more intimate, while also being completely in service of the chaos. If you're on the fence about this given that it's about the Blackberry, just watch it. It's fun. Loved the soundtrack too. Anything with Slint and Matt Good is fine by me.

Better-than-normal among the flood of business history movies that have come out in the past few years, but inarguably the best movie ever to tie it's emotional climax from the following viral video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXwRgnZ990I&t=75s

I wanted weirder from Matt but it’s still a good if traditional-by-now tech biopic with solid laughs and an unbelievable performance from Howerton.

A biographical film that is quickly paced is already a great start. The fact that it’s as compelling as it is, even better. Not only that, it has what I’d argue to be career best performances from Baruchel and Howerton. I figured this would end up being a well made movie that I didn’t really care about, but it’s far more enjoyable than I could’ve expected.

Really solid fast paced biographic film about the origins/history of Blackberry phones and the business/nerdy aspects surrounding it, with some time capsule/nostalgia elements attached to it. Some surprisingly funny moments and good performances. The rivalry of Apple in the second half of the movie ultimately leading to the demise of Blackberry ending ends everything from start to finish on a satisfying yet cautionary note, making it one of the best movies of 2023.

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Excellent and under-seen gem. Howerton gives an absolute powerhouse performance and it's really interesting to see how everything played out with Blackberry. The soundtrack was especially fantastic and added to the overall experience (and it kicked off with a banger by NOFX!). My only complaint is that it was totally unrealistic that a guy who wore exclusively tank tops inexplicably had a farmers tan.

Wenn RIM mal wieder einen unerwarteten Neustart mit ihren Brombeeren geplant hätte, wäre der Film zur rechten Zeit gekommen. Schön wäre es ja, denn die Verarbeitungsqualität dieser Geräte war damals ziemlich an der Spitze dessen, was man von Produkten für den Massenmarkt erwarten konnte. Natürlich kein Vergleich mit dem Nokia 3310, aber die Technik war zuverlässig genug und es war kein Zeitzünder eingebaut. Nur schade, dass GrapheneOS nicht drauf läuft.

Pretty good, slick. Felt superficial at times, and not an in depth study of characters, but a decision to go with a fast plot that never left you bored

Heavy shades of The Social Network, with Mike Lazaridis, Doug Fregin and Jim Balsillie respectively filling roles analogous to Zuckerberg, Saverin and Sean Parker in that film. That’s not a bad thing - TSN is top tier and this film is damn good too. Energetic, interesting, funny, a very well done if aggressively paced rise and fall tech story. I could tell even as I watched how simplified and fictionalized things were, but, hey, you do what you gotta do to condense 12 years into 2 hours.

Films of its kinds tend to be pretty boring, but this plays nicely as both a rise and downfall story and a sharp comedy on tech corporations, their weird and cute beginnings and usually depressing endings. Everyone is just great here.

Although nothing is exactly wrong in this one, I just felt that the ‘rise’ of BlackBerry was totally skipped in the film on the focus was more on a few key events. Which is not totally bad thing, but i did feel I was missing some parts of the story at the end. Still, an enjoyable film.

The best movie in this lately popular genre, which is admittedly a low bar to clear (Dumb Money, Beanie Bubble, WeCrash, The Dropout). It takes itself somewhat seriously but still has a goofy side with plenty of humor.

Brilliant! The film and directing style was flowed seamlessly to carry the story with finesse. Everything worked with everything and the acting was superb. What I loved most though (the golden thread in all my reviews) was the powerful message. I recommend this for any business owner, regardless of your business, let it frame your thinking. The director even took the liberty of emphasising these messages through camerawork and more but without detracting from the beauty of the entertainment.

Blackberry telefonlarının yükselişi ve iflasının anlatıldığı film. Kanada'nın küçük 1 şirketindeki fikir ile yola çıkan Blackberry telefonları, 1 girişimci tarafından CEO ile yükselişe geçiyor. Fedakarlık yaparken kaş göz çıkartıyor. Bu arada, mühendislerin ve iş adamları arasındaki fark çok eğlenceli. Glenn Howerton çok iyi. Kurgu ödüllük. Hiç sıkılmadan izledim. Filmin sonunda, hatalarını düzelt. Hışırtı olmasın. Iphone'dan önce Iphone'dan sonra.

This entertaining film features standout work from Baruchel, especially when he begins to crack with the realization that Apple is getting ready to kill his company with their upcoming iPhone, a product with the highest consumer interest in history.

This is an entertaining look at the history of Blackberry. The script has a lot of interesting moments and the cast does a good job in this movie. Overall I would recommend this film.

Definitely going for that Social Network vibe, but I love the Social Network so that's great.

It's very reminiscent of "The Social Network". Not as good, but the cast and the script are still pretty great.

Comedy?

Chinese engineering on blast! Canadians shoehorning in a hockey subplot! This is like the inverse of AIR: a good movie about a corporate failure.

In the vein of the Social Network, Blackberry manages to pump intrigue, greed, and tension into the story of the rise and fall of a tech company who seems to have failed largely due to the egos of its founders. It doesn't break much new ground in the biopic genre, but it's powerfully acted and has a razor-sharp script to go along with it, which makes for a very entertaining watch. Who knew the story of a phone company could have so much drama?

It's a great satire, and while it takes a few liberties, it manages to tell the larger story, of the mentality in tech during that time, so well. I feel I learned a bit from it, and I enjoyed every minute.

Business thrillers are always at risk of being horrifically boring, but with BlackBerry we get all the good bits in an engaging, well acted, no fat package

Good, not great. I certainly didn't love it as much as the critics did. Looking forward to reading the book for the real story. One thing that should have been in the post-film captions: even after making untold millions, the founders still live in Waterloo, Ontario.

Canadian Air.

Enjoyable story I only knew half of going in. The cast was fantastic. Solid tone switches from drama to comedy. Strong 7.8

There isn’t that much to the film on a thematic or visual level, but as a piece of “based on real life” entertainment, it is a joy to watch. The script zips by, knowing when to hang and when to sprint, but the real star here is Glenn Howerton. He has that chaotic, magnetic presence that makes any scene with him come alive. When paired with Matt Johnson, the movie really sings. I was thoroughly entertained.

While constantly entertaining many scenes and characters are too silly and exaggerated. Especially Matt Johnson’s rather terrible performance.

The style and pacing breeds urgency and tension. All of the details, most notably the workplace culture battles, add dimension.