BlackBerry
2023
***
Director: Matt Johnson
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Rich Sommer, Michael Ironside, Martin Donovan, Michelle Giroux, SungWon Cho, Mark Critch, Saul Rubinek, Cary Elwes
In 1996, nerdy Research in Motion owners Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin pitch their groundbreaking new cell phone that can send emails. The product doesn't take off until the ruthless new CEO Jim Balsillie takes over the business side. Following Air, Dumb Money, and Tetris, this is at least the fourth film released in 2023 that chronicles a real-life business endeavour from the recent past. This modest Canadian comedy covers the creation of the BlackBerry mobile phone, which was the hottest item for a brief moment until it crashed and burned when iPhone reshaped the industry. The story is interesting and intermittently funny, but the pacing is either too fast or too slow. The three main characters have no personality outside their professional roles, and perhaps that is why I struggled to care about any of them. The screenplay by Matthew Miller and Matt Johnson, who also directs and co-stars, is loosely based on Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff.
