BlackBerry (film, 2023)

​The film tells the story of the founders of the Canadian startup Research in Motion (future creators of BlackBerry smartphones), who struggle to sell their invention. It portrays the birth of the company and its market conquest before the emergence of the iPhone.

Based on the book "Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry" by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff.

Waterloo, Canada, 1996. The founders of Research in Motion try to find funding for their revolutionary development – a pager, phone, and computer in one device – but consistently fail all pitches. When a fired manager from a large company, where they made a presentation the day before, joins them and provides effective management, forcing undisciplined programmers to literally overnight transform electronic toys and calculators into a working prototype, an interested investor is immediately found. Thus, the world's first BlackBerry smartphone is born, swiftly capturing the market and making its creators billionaires.

Another film from the festival circuit. This time from Berlinale 23. Nominated for the Golden Bear (Best Film of the Year). However, it has received few reviews on IMDb (375 at the time of writing this review). I believe this needs to be corrected!

Does anyone remember or even heard of BlackBerry? Older people might say that this company used to produce phones, one of which was used by Barack Obama himself. The younger generation may not even know about the existence of this company, as it no longer exists. Once market leaders dictating the rules of the game, they now practically don't exist. This film is dedicated to this past success story.

The first thing to note is that the film is light, dynamic, and fun. In spirit, it can be compared to "The Wolf of Wall Street" by Scorsese or to other good ("Moneyball" by Bennett Miller) and not-so-good ("The Founder" by my favorite John Lee Hancock) biopics. It's a bold biopic about geeks-nerds who came up with cool technology and a business shark who managed to sell this technology. The combination of the innocence of the main characters with a talented salesman running around shouting "FUUUCK" adds to the enjoyment. It's not a stuffy lecture or a documentary about the company. It's a story about people, much like "The Social Network" by Fincher.

Despite the absence of major stars, the actors perform at a high level. Jay Baruchel from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Jon Turteltaub with Nicolas Cage develops the device, and Matt Johnson directs the film. Selling this miracle is Glenn Howerton – mostly a comedic and series actor from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and not-so-comedic "The Strangers" by Bryan Bertino.

Speaking of other technical aspects, the cinematography stands out. The film is shot in a documentary style. A great example would be "The Office". Similar camera behavior and angles create a sense of real life. The viewer isn't just a guy in the theater but becomes someone who seems to be peeking into what's happening, which adds points to immersion and persuasiveness.

But no matter what tricks the authors use, the film is far from accurate. As I mentioned earlier, it's not a documentary about the company. The film sequentially tells the story in four time periods, which creates incompleteness and gaps when characters change not in the frame but during these jumps. This affects both the overall integrity and the general understanding of what's happening. Therefore, the film only gives a general idea of the birth and death of BlackBerry, which may not appeal to everyone. In my opinion, if you want to detail the company's journey, you need a longer runtime (around 3 hours, as Scorsese did, rather than 2:10 as here).