BlackBerry
BlackBerry
A company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.
Manuel Frangis reviewedApril 15, 2025
I just watched BlackBerry, and I give it 5 out of 5 stars. This movie blew me away. I did not expect a movie about the rise and fall of a phone company to be this intense, this funny, or this weirdly emotional. It pulls you in with fast dialogue, chaotic energy, and characters who feel just real enough to make everything hit. It is part tech biopic, part business thriller, and part comedy — and it nails all three at once.
The movie tells the story of how BlackBerry went from a scrappy tech startup to the biggest name in smartphones, and then how it lost everything. But instead of going the typical serious, dramatic route, it keeps things messy and personal. You are not watching a clean rise and fall. You are watching people improvise their way through history, and it makes every scene feel alive.
Jay Baruchel plays Mike Lazaridis, the brain behind the technology, and he disappears into the role. He is awkward, soft-spoken, and clearly brilliant, but he is also someone who struggles to handle pressure and conflict. Watching him slowly change as the company grows is one of the best parts of the movie. It is subtle, but it hits. He goes from being the guy in the background to someone trying to keep everything from crashing down.
Glenn Howerton is on another level as Jim Balsillie. He is loud, aggressive, impulsive, and absolutely magnetic in every scene. The second he shows up, the energy shifts completely. He pushes the company forward, but also helps speed up its downfall. His performance is intense and funny at the same time, and the dynamic between him and Baruchel is what drives the whole movie.
The way the movie is shot adds to the vibe. It has this documentary-style look with shaky cameras, zooms, and close-ups that make you feel like you are right there in the middle of the meetings, the arguments, and the breakdowns. It feels raw and unfiltered, like you are watching something that was not meant to be polished. That style makes the whole thing feel more real and more stressful — in a good way.
The writing is smart and quick. The dialogue flies fast, but it never loses you. There is a lot of technical talk, but it is always clear what is happening and why it matters. The humor sneaks up on you. It is dry, awkward, and sometimes uncomfortable, but it fits the story perfectly. The movie never turns the characters into jokes, but it knows how ridiculous the world of tech startups can be, and it uses that to its advantage.
What really surprised me is how emotional it got by the end. You start off thinking this is just about business and tech, but by the time it wraps up, it is about pride, ambition, friendship, and what happens when success pulls people in different directions. You care about these guys, even when they mess up. That emotional core is what makes the movie stand out.
I give BlackBerry 5 out of 5 stars because it is fast, sharp, funny, and unexpectedly moving. It is not just a story about phones. It is a story about people who wanted to change the world and what happened when they almost did. Overall BlackBerry is a brilliant, high energy film that turns a tech story into something real and unforgettable. I loved every second of it.