‘BlackBerry’ Trailer Depicts The Infamous Story Of The Smartphone As A…Comedy?
In the current era of biopics overtaking the silver screen, it was only a matter of time before someone dedicated a whole movie diving deep into the meteoric success and failings of the original smartphone, the BlackBerry.
The movie, titled after the phone, is based on a book by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry. When it was first announced sometime last year, it’s safe to say that many assume it would have taken on a more serious tone just as other tech biopics have in the past, such as The Social Network, Steve Jobs, and The Dropout.
Though, after watching the trailer, it seems the film is taking a wittier and lighter stance on real-life events.
The trailer first starts with director and actor Matt Johnson, who plays co-founder Douglas Fregin, and Jay Baruchel’s Mike Lazaridis pitching an idea to RIM CEO Jim Balsillie (played by Glenn Howerton) about a phone that could also send emails via the free wireless network in the country that no one had seemed to be interested in at the time.
As it plays on, we see the trio start to make it their mission to get the device into the hands of every big CEO out there. Of course, they succeed. BlackBerry was one of the biggest phones at the time, heralding a new era of handheld devices and inventing a new way to use our thumbs.
But as quickly as they rose, so did they fall. The BlackBerry quickly faded into oblivion with the introduction of the iPhone and other Androids.
The movie seems to be a quirky take on one of the IT sector’s most important stories as viewers are treated to sharp zoom-ins (à la The Office) and deadpanned humor. However, underlying the jokes and facetious quips is the impending sense of doom as one watches something as revolutionary as the BlackBerry slowly but eventually meet its fate.
The film is scheduled for a May 12 premiere and has already been screened at the Berlin and SXSW Film festivals.
Check out the trailer below.
