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BlackBerry (2023) its Retro Rise & Fall | A Movie Review

Dane Bundy


 

In the opening sequence of BlackBerry (2023), Mike (Jay Baruchel) and Doug (Matthew Johnson) wait to pitch their new contraption, a phone with email on it, to a man named Jim (Glenn Howerton). Moments before he walks into the office, Mike hears a quiet hiss coming out of an intercom on Jim’s desk. The sound will not let Mike concentrate so he turns the machine over, revealing the words, “Made in China.” Mike pries open the device, while Doug is telling him that Jim was on his way to the office. Seconds before he enters the room, Mike grabs a paperclip, fixes the noise, and reassembles the intercom just as Jim enters. The pitch goes terribly, but the film introduces the central metaphor of the movie: a relentless pursuit of quality is a double-edged sword.


This stressful and humorous scene provides us with the central metaphor of the movie: the relentless pursuit of quality and fast-paced expansion is a double-edged sword.


“I won’t join the hiss,” Mike later tells Jim, their new co-ceo of Rim, a man who could not be more different in personality.


“Let me tell you the best advice I ever got at Harvard. You want to be great? You need to sacrifice. And the more painful your sacrifice, the greater you’ll be.”


SPOILERS AHEAD


Eventually, Jim’s brash push for expansion, financial stability matched with Mike’s commitment to producing the highest quality of product, expands the company to new heights. This leads to bigger problems to solve, and the only way to that is higher, not just Canadians’ best engineers, but the world’s best, stealing them from top companies. The inevitable fork in the road meets Mike, leading to his choice to sacrifice the men and the culture that gave birth to RIM or never reaching the next level for the company. This eventually results in the separation of Mike and his founding partner, Doug, who represents the heart of the company as it was.


This limited release, Canadian-produced film, boasts a 97% critics rating and 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It deserves the accolades!


It feels like an independent-film version of The Social Network (2010). While the latter is more polished and pace-paced, BlackBerry embraces a documentary-like atmosphere with strong retro vibes. Some of the most memorable scenes are watching the original team members play video games over LAN and hold movie nights. Which leads to perhaps my favorite part of Blackberry, the humor! I can’t tell you how many times I truly laughed out loud. Mike Johnson who plays Doug is brilliant on screen, and also behind the scenes, as he is the director and co-writer.


The only drawback to this film is the foul language, mostly from Jim Balsillie, which matches his character but after a while just feels gratuitous. If not for this, I would unreservedly recommend the movie.


Ultimately, we know the story: BlackBerry could not keep up with the competition, especially Apple. Without spoiling the ending, the film gives a haunting last scene, reminiscent of The Social Network again. More vividly than ever, do we see the true cost of Mike’s sacrifice.


 



Dane Bundy is president of Stage & Story and Director of Fine Arts at Regents School of Austin, a K-12 classical Christian school in Austin, Texas.

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