When I say we humans are sadistic animals only truly celebrating someone’s losses over their victories, I don’t mean to call any specific reader out – only myself. Which is why I imagine some of us might have enjoyed the Canadian film BlackBerry over the American-made Air.
While obviously, the latter had the star cast, budget, and consistent pacing, Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry was still almost at par with the other 2023 release. Inspired by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, Johnson’s film reiterates the story of the nostalgic mobile phone.
The film first premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2023, opening to positive acclaim from most critics. With a 90+ score from the audience and critics on its opening day, the film tells a cautionary tale of hubris, humor, and the cruelty of the ever-evolving technological world.
The film starts with Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) discovering a revolutionary piece of tech that could translate into a multi-million company. He joins hands with the innovator and tech genius Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and his team of movie-night-enthusiasts and tech geeks led by Doug Fregin (Matt Johnson).
The two CEOs establish Research in Motion (RIM), which produces BlackBerry, a technological sensation that spread faster than crack.
Of course, their hurdles were tremendous, but their rewards were even better – until the turning point. Carl Yankowski (Cary Elwes) comes in hot with a hostile takeover, and the greedy Jim topples over the security of the company’s network to outdo him.
Adding to this mistake, they backdate stock options when they were lower to make billions by scamming the SEC, which obviously lead to a raid. The culmination of these two bad decisions, loaded up on the iPhone’s launch and BlackBerry’s lack of keeping up with the times, RIM and the so-called innovation of the decade suffered a fatal hit.
The film ends with Jim taking the brunt of the SEC’s investigation to keep the company afloat while the two would pay back fines to SEC. The ending highlights how not every corporate giant can keep up with the evolving world, and that they must face the consequences and be left behind.
The film’s release date for the US audience is not confirmed, and we have no news on which streaming platform will provide a home to the 2023 movie once it’s ready to leave theaters. But I’ll keep you in the loop, so stay tuned to Cine Dope!
About BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a 2023 Canadian biographical comedy-drama film about the history of the BlackBerry line of mobile phones. It is directed by Matt Johnson from a script by Johnson and producer Matthew Miller, which was adapted from Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry.
The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone – the Blackberry.
The film stars Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton in the lead roles as Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, respectively. It also stars Matt Johnson, Rich Sommer, Michael Ironside, Martin Donovan, Michelle Giroux, SungWon Cho, Saul Rubinek, and Cary Elwes.
Source: Screenrant
No Comments on BlackBerry Ending: A Tale of Caution and Humor Set in the Tech World