BlackBerry (2023)

BlackBerry-(2023)
BlackBerry (2023)

The film “Blackberry” is one of the best frenemies of money that every businessperson should watch alongside Glengarry Glen Ross, Wall Street, and The Wolf of Wall Street. These movies are fundamentally built around the same theme where the protagonists happen to be amoral, glorified psychopaths who operate in a world that is utterly corrupt. What sets these movies apart from the typical business storytelling is that there is utter enjoyment to be derived from it. Every performance onscreen is captivating, every dialogue is immensely quotable and every single second is kinetic and filled with suspense. MoneyBros cinema differs from your typical action flicks where the protagonists use insults rather than swords to overcome challenges. They set intricate traps, score massive promotions, and even try to evade the cuffs for as long as they can. One might argue that “Blackberry” should be viewed in business schools as a cautionary tale, but I believe there is a greater case to be made for the captained young men putting this movie on after a heavy night of drinking with the boys.

You’ve probably never seen a more entertaining depiction of ‘losers’ who are fated to become footnotes in history. The songs chosen for these scenes have also been curated in a way that they all will be used in commercials by Fortune 500 companies in the next couple of years.

The film is written by Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, who depict severally interesting segments. Bringing forth the emotions prevalent over the black card phone, the film is directed as a shaky camera which captures the hand trembles of Matt Johnson holding it. Based on traditional business architecture, Losing the Signal, Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff have always came first in realizing that a complete episode of The Office written by David Mamet would evoke these sorts of reactions from people. The BlackBerry, to put it plainly, received its final blow from the iPhone and all of its followers. Imagine watching the most captivating TV drama and only seeing the first and last episodes. Or consider The MoneyBro version of “Full Metal Jacket,” which shows spinning naive new recruits being brainwashed into cynical war-hardened transforms, but entirely evades the character development in the middle. It reveals the worst changes made in a person and the best changes instilling true purpose into them. The worst part is the body. The heart changes without external need. Always. Simply stating the revolting truth. 

The most captivating point being thus devoid is the structure of his story. The changers and the makers never taken care of.

In the first part of the movie, we see how Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and his partner Douglas Fregin (Johnson) invented the BlackBerry and devised a way to allow hundreds of them to function on the same cellular network without overheating the system, which enabled them to witness the device’s wild success, placing them at the stage of being the next Steve Jobs. 

As is the case with many intellects, Mike and Doug simply do not have the callous zeal and hands-on detail that is required to excel in a fundamentally capitalist framework. They are basement-dwelling geeks that get insulted by clients on a regular basis, including one whom they shipped products months ago but still owes them millions. Enter Jim Ballsillie (Glenn Howerton), an overbearing businessman and hockey fanatic who feels underappreciated in his profession. He understands that these guys are close to achieving something big and, how can he put it, he wants to make their issues go ‘poof’, all while expanding the company along with it. Doug believes adequately that Jim is a shark, and to put it mildly, he’s frightened.

However, once Mike gets on the phone, asking for money, he starts stammering and cringing, which makes Jim, “Get Co-CEO” status. In his mind, being able to recruit someone who can intimidate possible foes has merit. It’s Jim who’s able to detect and grab particular moments as they present themselves. “You know who fears sharks? Pirates,” States Mike. “When a salesman calls, you believe he has something that is too good to be true? It’s a scam. And how does a lawyer fumble in court? A good one never does, so it’s worth getting flinched. There’s nothing so terrifying as Jim.”

The film fast forwards through the company’s development, condensing much of the plot into dynamic montages reminiscent of a Steven Soderbergh heist movie (or the business procedural style of “High Flying Bird” or “The Informant!”). Slicing through the Red tape is the easiest part of the company designing the devices. They often lean into the absurdity of some scenarios. (For instance, when Jim instructs all staff to turn into ‘male models’ and publicly display a BlackBerry at all times, the film cuts to a scene of a man playing tennis with one hand while holding a Blackberry in the other.) The solution to the overloading of the wireless carrier’s system and having the product rendered useless is brilliant. 

The film has an intuitive breakpoint that is omitted in the poster. Then, we join the film around mid 2000’s right before BlackBerry was about to get forgotten which it was an era that BlackBerry had previously defined. Clarification arises around the changes to expect. It’s all stiff and black and white, really, in terms of the character everyone is supposed to be.

The central character in the plot all still act for the most part like how we encountered them, however, the context is new and has made them lazy and narrow-minded to the point that they do not want to compromise and adapt.

BlackBerry observes the nuance of the event extremely closely while succinctly explaining relevant details in a non-critical manner. In parallel, it considers the characters and plot as components of a work of art. One can appreciate re-watching and observing the movie and try to see all the little things someone missed in the first viewing and to find connections across the halves. In one of the earliest scenes that define Mike’s character, Jim attempts to get him to build a prototype in a shorter amount of time than he is used to, and Mike resists the notion. He later capitulates in a much worse situation. In the same vein, as the company Jim’s energy, much like his Gordon style of leadership during the initial phases, aggressive, and if I can think I can do it, I can make it; this mentality leads to his failure later on as company’s primary strength turns into weakness. 

This approach might be useful to impose the first part of the movie alongside the second part to see whether certain parts are overlaid onto the scenes perfectly.

I find that it would all fit as perfectly as the key set pieces within the first two “Star Wars” trilogies, which are also about how the early seeds of a person’s triumph or downfall are laid down. Most adults in this film are more like grown-up kids than proper adults. Mike is so fond of the click-click of the buttons on BlackBerrys that when the release of the screen-only iPhone destroys the product, he suffers from a brownout, and when he comes back online he is a malfunctioning robotic device. He can do nothing but deny reality.

During his upbringing, Baruchel became a famous personality for his role as a teenage nerd on the Judd Apatow and Paul Feig production called ‘Undeclared.’ Even now at age 41, when his got his hair silver to portray a character nicknamed The Real Mike, Baruchel is still able to cast a semblance of the sensitive self he grew up with. Even now, him and Johnson are able to effectively portray someone who has very little control over his peer’s decisions. 

Howerton will forever be known as a supporting character that Bruce Willis ‘never had the chance to play.’ He has already cemented his position as a senestealing jerk with his qualities of a shaved head, narrow eyes, and pouty lips. The moderate anger and fury that leads to speech around a “warrior spirit” is what defines strength for many individuals rather, than the utter destruction of a signature on a piece of paper, and the act being portrayed as entertaining. Many people nowadays are captured by that aesthetic, and it goes without saying, that behavior like this is truly revolting and appalling, to say the least.

The film revolves around The tragedy is one that has been framed and even edited like an action comedy. It is about people who find their failures and successes to come from the same well.

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