No. 64 (2023) BLACKBERRY August 20th.

 

Film No. 64  (2023)  August 20th.  3:45 PM  LUNA LEEDERVILLE,  Cine 4, Leederville.

 

"There is a free wireless internet signal, all across North America, and no one has figured out how to use it. It's like, 'The Force'. Sorry, have you seen Star Wars?" (Doug tries to explain to Jim the unlimited potential of his and Mike's invention).

NOMINEE: (Matt Johnson) Best Film, Sloan Science on Screen Award. WINNER: (Glenn Howerton) Best Actor The Hollywood Assoc. Midseason Awards.

AIR was a wonderfully entertaining film about the rise and rise of a sports shoe, via the ingenuity and marketing of an executive with an outlandish vision. Well, BLACKBERRY is also a highly entertaining feature about ingenuity and marketing, but this time the vehicle is the world's first smartphone. BLACKBERRY is the story of the rise and FALL (meteoric fall) type. It doesn't try to be as slick as AIR, but it is equally compelling.

BLACKBERRY is a Canadian story, so it's pleasing the film uses actual Ontario precincts (Waterloo University, Toronto, Hamilton) and includes lesser known provincial actors, who give brilliant performances. Be warned, it is a male driven vehicle. There are few female participants. But the phenomenon that was, The Blackberry, did revolve essentially around inventors Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin and marketer Jim Balsillie. The story is very much a male tale, played out in testosterone fuelled work-labs and boardrooms.  

Interestingly director and co-writer Matt Johnson plays Doug Fregin with the caveat that the real Fregin declined to play any role in the film's development. Johnson openly states that BLACKBERRY is a work of fiction. But there is no question, it's an under-dog story with an ability to rivet an audience to the screen. The fact that the rise and fall of a gadget, so ground-breaking, occurred in the blink of an eye (and just before the rise of a generation very reliant on IPhones and Androids) makes the story an entertaining historical document. 

The hand-held nature of the shoot may deter the odd, more traditional, cinephile, but it adds to its documentary style. Blackberry is a low budget film, but so were, IN THE THICK OF IT and 127 HOURS each telling stories  motivated by actual events. For those who have never heard of a Blackberry and are addicted to their smartphone, here the inventors realised that a palm held devise had the capability to use a new, free service: the internet. The Blackberry created that magic we now base our day to day life around. Fascinating, don't you think?  10GUMS.