Hollywood seems to have recently found a new niche of serving up corporate propaganda in the form of biopics, and for the most part the results have been predictably bland and uninteresting. However, by tackling the genre through the lens of a _The Office_ style workplace comedy, _Blackberry_ immediately seperates itself from other films like it. Right from the opening scenes you can tell there’s a smart director at the helm here. Its sense of humour is unique (and from what I’ve been told very Canadian) and there are a lot of clever, subtle touches to be found in the acting and directing for those who really pay attention. Glenn Howerton, despite bad make-up, kills it. The music selection is also excellent, because the needle drops are accurate to the time period and often comment on the scenes in interesting ways. As for the script, while the overall structure is fairly predictable, it doesn’t make the mistake of focussing too much on just the succession of events. It knows what’s important for this particular story, and it cuts out everything else. The dynamic that develops between our three main characters is compelling, hinting at a direction that’s similar to the _The Social Network_, but it doesn’t go there. Instead, this ends up being a story about technological innovation and the risk of falling behind the curve when companies can’t read the room. It’s not mindblowing stuff, but very entertaining and definitely worth your time.

7/10