Let’s all calm down and take a deep breath. There are some out there who think Matt Johnson’s “BlackBerry,” which I saw via a screener during the last Berlin Film Festival, can be an awards contender.
If anything, the awards talk does a major disservice to Johnson’s compulsively watchable and, quite frankly, very funny movie. It doesn’t need toxic awards talk, it’s more than that: a film that couldn’t care less about awards season.
A trailer was released by IFC Films today.
Johnson’s film is about the rise and fall of the BlackBerry smartphone and the quirky Canadians that created it before Apple came to town and screwed things up for them.
“BlackBerry” tackles the story of the creation of Research in Motion, which went on to create the phone. There’s style, humor and some rightful jabs at the powers that take control of tech creativity.
The cast is top notch: Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton are so well-cast as outcasts who lose track of their friendship when hubris and greed comes into play. Matt Johnson even stars alongside them and, know what? He’s a pretty damn good actor.
Its 124 minutes just zip by. This isn’t a film that’s trying to break the mold or reinvent cinema. It’s honestly just trying to tell this fascinating true story.
Johnson used the same docu-style filmmaking in his Sundance hit, “Operation Avalanche,” not to mention in his curious debut, “The Dirties,” but he really hits the mark here because the story is just so contagiously interesting.
The reviews have been top-notch for “BlackBerry.” I just hope this little gem of a film doesn’t get lost in the flood of summer movies when it debuts in theaters on May 12.