Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine 2015

Justin Chang, Variety: Alex Gibney takes on Steve Jobs and society's ongoing Apple addiction in this deeply critical biographical portrait. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: The movie feels like an info dump, and since so much of that information is intended to bolster an argument, The Man In The Machine's "and here's another thing" shapelessness becomes frustrating. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Gibney, much like Jobs, takes a lot of existing information and packages it attractively. There isn't much new here, but if the story is familiar, Gibney at least tells it in an interesting way. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Toward the end of "The Man in the Machine," Gibney says we should look for answers in our iPhones when they're at rest - at the reflections of ourselves. It's a start. So's the movie. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: As Gibney proved with Gonzo, his 2008 documentary on Hunter S. Thompson, he can go a bit moony in the presence of a cult hero, and he buys into the Jobs legend from the outset. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: There is practically nothing in this film that was not already raked over in Walter Isaacson's 2013 biography or in the many thousands of articles about Jobs over the years. But there is something about seeing and hearing this story onscreen. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Gibney's built a powerful and compelling case-even if much of the ground he covers won't be news to anyone who follows Apple. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: The doc merits seeing it on its terms and should generate plenty of buzz in this Apple-obsessed world, but word-of-mouth may not be kind. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Gibney is certainly good at what he does, and "Steve Jobs" is at its best in providing a brisk summation of the man's life. Or, more accurately, lives, for Jobs seemed to have been more people than one would have thought possible. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine is practically a sequel to Going Clear. Both Apple and Scientology are corporations that claim to stand for something purer than greed. Read more

Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News: After "The Man in the Machine," you may never look at that iPhone in your hand the same way again. You truly will think different. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: Despite the movie's journalistic substance, the pleasure-free banality of its style gets in the way of a view of Jobs himself, whose work is as much aesthetic as it is industrial. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: The fact is that Jobs is a slippery subject who often attempted to windowshade the truth. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: Mr. Gibney, a prolific documentarian, not only charts Mr. Jobs's extraordinary record of marketing and innovation, but also presents a merciless anatomy of a complicated public character. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: Though Gibney doesn't seem to come up with anything truly groundbreaking, there's surely more negative stuff here - and lots more detail - than you've encountered before. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Brings home the complexities and contradictions of the man. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Sometimes "Man in the Machine" feels like it needs a balancing voice. But it's nonetheless a fascinating film, as Gibney's always are. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: Jobs' extraordinary achievements are given their due, but the film makes it abundantly clear that he could also be a hardhearted and self-centered S.O.B. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Gibney creates a film that is as visually stunning as it is dramatically charged. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Zeroes in on the essential contradictions of the Apple co-founder. Read more

David Ehrlich, Time Out: Curiously, the more the film testifies to the unique velocity of Jobs's persona, the more routine his story feels. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Little here is new, but the archival footage is well chosen, the interviewees are illuminating, and Gibney, as usual, potently synthesizes what's out there. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: It's a necessary corrective to the myths that have grown around Steve Jobs, obscuring a man who many of us never knew existed. Read more

Inkoo Kang, TheWrap: "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine" is still wholly engrossing, especially in its first half, when it tells its thrilling creation stories. Read more