It’s kind of crazy how historical movies are being made on things that were around when I was alive, but a movie on the startup of BlackBerry phones makes sense. In a few years, people will only know of the fruit when the word blackberry is mentioned. 

The rise and fall of the first smartphone was a fascinating story to tell but lacked that “umph” that really could’ve made the film better. But, there is nothing that could’ve been done, as this is a biographical film.

There’s nothing necessarily bad about the film. There’s a great cast and an authentic acting performance by Glenn Howerton who plays Jim Balsillie, former CEO of BlackBerry. The story was captivating but was a bit dry toward the end of the film.

There are few movies that make me laugh, and this one is one of the few. The silent pauses and jokes spread throughout the movie were great. The hand-held shots were also an addition to this, as they added more of the realness to the film, which allowed me to feel like I was in the room with them.

The beginning of the film, where we understand everyone’s place in life, does a great job of setting everything up for the rest of the film. It appears everything will work out well, despite all the aggression.

The reason why Balsillie was fired from his previous job was sped over, but I did enjoy how hard-working he was once he started working with Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and Doug Fregin (Matthew Johnson), the creators of BlackBerry.

Bringing his knowledge of how business works and the nerdy side of the product, Balsillie filled in the missing pieces both parties required for them to be successful.

In business, there are friendships that are split, and we see it in “BlackBerry.” A larger impact could have been made on this trope if we saw Lazaridis and Fregin interact more. We don’t see them simply being friends, and if Lazaridis had lashed out at Fregin more, then the collapse of their friendship would’ve been more powerful.

If there was more emphasis on Balsillie committing fraud, I think that would’ve caused for more of a dramatic ending. We see it a little bit before things collapse, but we brush over how he isn’t really a part of the company anymore and ventures into buying stadiums and investing into the NHL.

When Balsillie’s conniving came to light, that whole segment was rushed. I wish we would have seen the police take him away or get more of a reaction from him.

I really enjoyed the real news events that happened, such as news articles and when Apple unveiled the first iPhone. I think it added an extra characteristic to the film which was needed.

Seeing how quickly Apple took over the industry compared to how the company is today was astonishing. I couldn’t imagine trying to keep up with them back then. It’s unfortunate how BlackBerry was unable to stay up to date and is no longer releasing new phones.

Baruchel did a great acting job of having that awkward yet authoritative figure role. Seeing Apple start to take over the market and how the Security and Exchange Committee came and investigated the BlackBerry company not only negatively impacted his company, but also showed how his demeanor shifted.

It was tough seeing how frustrated he was knowing he couldn’t keep up with Apple, which again came from a great performance from Baruchel.

I always appreciate the fun facts that pop up at the end of the movie as well. Seeing that Fregin is secretly one of the richest men in the world was not something that I expected.

There are many positives of the film, but some of the parts were sped over which left questions unanswered. There were also not many standout moments in the film. It did a very good job with getting the story across and having the film release in 2023 was a great job to come out.

If it were released in a few years then some people probably wouldn’t care, and kids probably wouldn’t care because all they would probably know is Apple.

Rate: 3.5/5

Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 581-2812 or cahardy@eiu.edu.