BlackBerry, the silly, scrappy Canadian tale of corporate hubris and hilarity

Blackberry - Matt Johnson - 2023

★★★★-BlackBerry is quite the smart, scrappy flick that oscillates between silly and deadpan in the best possible way. Canadian indie flick. I loved it. One of the best films I've seen this year. Story, pacing, dialogue, acting, and characters are all fantastically executed. Film grabbed me from the very beginning. 

Gist of the film is a fictionalized account of the creation of the BlackBerry line of mobile phones by co-founders Douglas Fregin and Mike Lazaridis, along with investor Jim Balsillie. With all these corporate movies of late, the film shows a Canadian company that changed the world, but it's not Air. This isn't a positive portrayal. It's a company that got too big for its britches and caused its own destruction through hubris, skirting the law, and self-sabotage. 

Stars Jay Baruchel (This is the End, She's Out of Your League) as Mike Lazaridis and Glenn Howerton (Dennis Reynolds from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as psychopathic co-CEO Jim Balsillie. Others include director Matt Johnson, Michael Ironside (Scanners, RoboCop), Saul Rubinek (Unforgiven, True Romance), and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride)in supporting roles.

Directed by Matt Johnson and co-written by Johnson and producer Matthew Miller. Loosely based on the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. 

Howerton elevates what would have been a solid flick into a great one. He plays his usual sociopath, only with more rage. Like a dead-eyed predator. Yet, there is still a lot of humor in that misguided rage. He comes off as a guy that might physically attack the people that work for him he is so quick to hilariously fly off the handle, asking them to do the impossible. He's worth the watch alone. 

Scanners is the greatest movie of all time

Scanners. "We're gonna do this the scanner way. I'm gonna suck your brain dry! Everything you are is gonna become me. You're gonna be with me Cameron, no matter what. After all, brothers should be close, don't you think?"

Directed by David Cronenberg in 1981, I consider this his masterpiece. This movie doesn’t fuck around. Gets weird immediately and just keeps moving toward some real shit. The famous head explosion happens in the first 10 minutes, a real surprise. Don’t even know who anybody is at that point. 

Does an incredible job of world-building, no wasted time. Still is clear without exposition. Cronenberg is a master filmmaker. Special effects are out of this world. Cronenberg is the guy for body horror. Has a lot of that. Bulging veins and bleeding, eyes popping out, so forth. 

Main character, Stephen Lack, is a pretty good actor. Reminds me of the guy from the outsider. Doesn’t act anymore. He is now a painter. The guy who plays Revok, Michael Ironside, is a poor man’s Jack Nicholson. He is outstanding. 

Word of advice. If you’re pumping gas and a telephone wire spontaneously burst into flames, don’t pull the pump out of the car so it pours onto the ground under said burning wire. 

Ending is pretty weird and ambiguous. Awesome flick.