BlackBerry review: A smart, funny and tragic tech story

Matt Johnson's witty film charts the rise and fall of a smartphone phenomenon

Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis in BlackBerry. Photo: Budgie Films

Before the iPhone was launched and irreversibly changed technology and society for ever, there was another smartphone that looked as though it would be permanently glued to people’s hands.

At its peak, there were 85 million BlackBerry subscribers around the world, and the company controlled 45 per cent of the handheld phone market.

Steve Jobs and Apple brought BlackBerry’s domination to a swift and absolute end. But, as Matt Johnson’s dark comedy biopic BlackBerry makes clear, those who ran BlackBerry were equally responsible for the company’s downfall.

Warning: this review contains spoilers

BlackBerry opens in 1996, when geeky inventors Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and Douglas Fregin (Matt Johnson) have a meeting with ruthless business executive Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) about their new creation — a machine that’s both a cell phone and can send emails. Unfortunately for Mike and Douglas, they’re so nervous, clumsy, and out of their depth that their pitch goes terribly.

However, there’s no denying that their idea isn’t just great, but could change the face of the world. When Jim is fired later that day, he approaches Mike and Douglas with an offer that will lead him take charge of the business side of the company.

Douglas is dead set against his involvement. But, after a brief deliberation, Mike ultimately agrees, and the three of them soon go on to create a device that explodes in popularity.

However, to keep BlackBerry at the top of the industry, Jim enters into various shady business dealings that ultimately come back to haunt him and the company, especially once the iPhone is released.

BlackBerry manages to tell this intriguing and tragic story of greed vs creativity in a thoroughly gripping manner. It’s helped by a pair of fine performances from the two actors who represent both sides of this spectrum.

This doesn’t actually include Baruchel, though. There’s nothing wrong with his turn as the reticent and reserved Lazaridis. In fact, his low-key portrayal is exactly what the film requires, as the character finds himself torn between staying true to his artistic vision and making as much money as possible.

Instead, it’s Howerton and Johnson who play the most bombastic and attention-grabbing characters, and it’s their dynamic and conflict that makes BlackBerry so captivating to watch.

Howerton is a revelation as Balsillie. Anyone who has seen his cunning and aggressive performances as Dennis Reynolds during 16 seasons of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia will know just how intimidating and manipulative he can be on-screen. While Balsillie is less psychotic than Reynolds, he’s just as ruthless. The decision to make Howerton bald for the role enhances his performance rather than distracts, too, and helps him to bring a Wolf of Wall Street-style energy to the film.

Johnson, who also co-wrote the film with Matthew Miller, is hugely impressive as Douglas Fregin. While Balsillie is all about business and crushing his competitors, Fregin’s main focus is on maintaining team morale. To do this, Fregin insists on there being a movie night every week, no matter how busy work is, while he also repeatedly makes pop culture references and plays silly games with the rest of the team to make sure they’re happy.

Jay Baruchel as inventor Mike Lazaridis, left, and Glenn Howerton as ruthless business executive Jim Balsillie. AP

But while that might make you believe that Balsillie is the villain of the film and Fregin is the hero, BlackBerry is all the more riveting because of how complex its characters are. So much so that you end up both loving and hating each of the characters in equal measure.

Sure, there are times when Balsillie's actions are deplorable, but he’s so successful and ambitious that you can’t help but be impressed. Meanwhile, Fregin’s naivety and insistence on being the nice guy becomes increasingly frustrating as BlackBerry becomes so huge.

Behind the camera, Johnson and Miller’s script is smartly crafted to make the film as entertaining and informative as possible, while Johnson’s direction is exemplary. BlackBerry will inevitably be compared with the likes of The Social Network and Steve Jobs, but his direction is much more documentary-like.

Johnson wants the audience to feel as if they are in the room with all of the characters as they make their monumental decisions. Thanks to the authentic performances and free-flowing script, you do, especially because the characters are so flawed and well rounded.

BlackBerry might not quite land its ambitious and prolonged ending, but despite its dialogue-heavy script about the mundane aspects of technology, viewers are always aware of exactly what’s happening. Which, as the story and the characters get more desperate and tragic, actually makes BlackBerry all the more poignant, even as it builds to its inevitable conclusion.

Blackberry is out now in UAE cinemas