Charting the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone, Canadian director Matt Johnson's BLACKBERRY is a whirlwind ride through a ruthlessly competitive tech landscape at the turn of the 21st century.
In 1999, two mismatched entrepreneurs — egghead innovator Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, GOON, THE TROTSKY) and cut-throat businessman Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA) — join forces to launch the BlackBerry, a revolutionary device that is destined to become a worldwide hit in little more than a decade. But just as BlackBerry is rising to new peaks, the company starts to lose its way through a fog of smartphone wars, management indecision and questionable business practices. The result is the spectacular breakdown of one of the most successful ventures in the history of the tech world.
"At once wonderfully funny, suspenseful and ultimately tragic […] Here is a business story that has it all […] At its heart it is an underdog story straight from the heart of the ironically named Waterloo, Ontario, where it all began, but also a cautionary warning that what goes up must come down." – Pete Hammond, Deadline. (Note adapted from IFC Films.)
DIR/SCR Matt Johnson, from the book "Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of Blackberry" by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff; SCR/PROD Matthew Miller; PROD Niv Fichman, Fraser Ash, Kevin Krikst. Canada, 2023, color, 119 min. RATED R
