iSteve

iSteve is a 2013 parody film released on April 17, 2013[1] by producer Funny or Die,[2] marking their first full-length movie.[3] It claims to be the first biopic on the life of Steve Jobs after his death. The film stars Justin Long, who had previously starred in Apple's Get a Mac ad campaign, as Jobs and Jorge Garcia as Steve Wozniak.[4] The film was written in three days and shot in five by Ryan Perez, a former Saturday Night Live writer.[3][5]

This article is about the Steve Jobs parody film. For the journalist who uses "iSteve" as his online brand, see Steve Sailer.

iSteve
Directed byRyan Perez
Written byRyan Perez
StarringJustin Long
Jorge Garcia
James Urbaniak
Michaela Watkins
Production
company
Distributed byFunny or Die
Release date
April 17, 2013
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Cast

In order of appearance

Crew
  • Directed by: Ryan Perez
  • Producer: Allison Hord
  • Written by: Ryan Perez
  • with additional material by: Danny Jelinek, Anne Rieman, Allison Hord, Charles Ingram, Nick Corirossi and Brad Schultz

Critical review

As a free release on the Internet, the movie went unseen by film critics, with most public reactions coming from tech and business bloggers.[6][7] According to Forbes, early reviews are mixed.[5] Wired reviewer Mat Honan stated that the movie was "profoundly unfunny" and that "If 'Funny or Die' is a promise, the crew should probably start coffin shopping."[8] Honan claims that the film has several inaccuracies but also notes that the film is a parody, which somewhat offsets that.[8] CNET reviewer Amanda Kooser also notes that the movie "cut a few corners as far as accuracy goes".[9] Kooser notes that the film succeeded, in a sense, in beating Ashton Kutcher's Jobs to market as the first Steve Jobs biopic after his death (Pirates of Silicon Valley had been produced and released in 1999, 3 years after Jobs returned to Apple).[9] Kooser also notes that the movie had rampant anachronistic technology term usage.[9] Variety reviewer AJ Marechal notes that the movie, which was written in three days and shot in five,[3][5] "has its funny moments", but that it may be "too long", especially for the Funny or Die viewership.[3] The New York Times critic Brooks Barnes described the movie as a "biopic poking fun at biopics" and said that writer Ryan Perez said "In true Internet fashion, it’s not based on very thorough research — essentially a cursory look at the Steve Jobs Wikipedia page".[10] Barnes also noted that the movie also bested a third Jobs movie in the works by Aaron Sorkin adapted from Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson with input from Wozniak to the market.[10] Fortune reviewer Philip Elmer-DeWitt describes the movie as " an over-long Saturday Night Live skit that never quite gets rolling", but noted it had a few things going for it.[2]

Macworld reviewers Dan Moren and Lex Friedman provided one of the few positive reviews describing the movie as a humorous Jobs biography that "...is surprisingly amusing, provided you are both a fan of Apple and of stupid comedy, and presuming you also don’t mind a little profanity sprinkled in for good measure."[11] Forbes reviewer noted that the scheduled April 15 release was delayed 2 days due to the Boston Marathon bombings.[5]

Notes
  1. Erickson, Christine (April 2, 2013). "Funny or Die's Steve Jobs Biopic Releases April 15". Funny or Die. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  2. Elmer-DeWitt, Philip (April 17, 2013). "Review: Funny or Die's 'iSteve'". Fortune. Archived from the original on April 18, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  3. Marechal, AJ (April 17, 2013). "'iSteve,' Funny or Die's First Long Form…Too Long?". Variety. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  4. Li, Anita (April 17, 2013). "Funny or Die's Steve Jobs Biopic 'iSteve' Debuts Online". Funny or Die. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  5. Guglielmo, Connie (March 17, 2013). "Funny Or Die Releases Steve Jobs' Mockumentary Called 'iSteve'". Forbes. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  6. "Sorry, no results found for "isteve"". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  7. "No search results found. Did you mean Steve?". Metacritic. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  8. Honan, Mat (April 17, 2013). "A Review of iSteve. Spoiler Alert: This Movie Sucks". Wired. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  9. Kooser, Amanda (April 17, 2013). "Accuracy, schmaccuracy: 'iSteve' props go hilariously wrong: The makers of satirical Steve Jobs film "iSteve" take a liberal approach to computing and Apple history". CNET. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  10. Barnes, Brooks (March 17, 2013). "Funny or Die Makes a Steve Jobs Movie". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  11. Moren, Dan and Lex Friedman (April 17, 2013). "Review: Funny or Die's iSteve will tickle Apple fans". Macworld. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
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