On paper, the idea of a film about the rise and fall of the BlackBerry smartphone sounds dull as hell. A few Canadians get together, create a smartphone, and then Apple comes along and screws the whole thing up? Yawn. But somehow, someway, Matt Johnson’s new drama, “BlackBerry,” looks like an absolute blast of a movie.
As seen in the trailer for “BlackBerry,” Matt Johnson’s new film tells the story of the creation of Research in Motion, aka the company that created the Blackberry smartphone. But again, when you actually watch the trailer and see the style and humor, you understand that this isn’t aiming to be Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs,” this is more like a Canadian version of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” And thank the lord for that.
Right off the bat, you’re going to notice the cast of the film, especially stars Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton, but not how you expect them. The former has white hair and the nerdiest glasses ever, while the latter sheds his douchey ‘It’s Always Sunny’ vibes to appear as a balding, asshole executive. In addition to co-writing and directing the film, Matt Johnson also stars alongside the aforementioned duo.
We were able to watch “BlackBerry” as part of the Berlin Film Festival, and in our A+ review, we said, “It is a loving — and highly entertaining — ode to the outcasts who dream of nothing more than a life filled with fixing whirring gadgets and afternoons spent in ‘Star Trek’ matinees.”
“BlackBerry” debuts in theaters on May 12. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
‘BlackBerry’ tells the story of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the two men that charted the course of the spectacular rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone.