Before there was the iPhone and Androids, there was the BlackBerry. Co-starring and directed by award-winning indie filmmaker Matt Johnson, don’t miss a Movie Club Preview of the wickedly funny “true story” comedy, BlackBerry, with “intelligence as sharp as its humor” and a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 98% from critics.
Inspired by the meteoric rise & catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone, BlackBerry is a whirlwind ride through a ruthlessly competitive Silicon Valley at breakneck speeds. The “whip-smart” comedy features an impeccable ensemble cast including its director Matt Johnson (The Dirties, Operation Avalanche), alongside Jay Baruchel (This is the End) in “one of the best and most empathetic performances of his career” and comedy veteran Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) with a standout turn also praised by critics.
Two mismatched entrepreneurs – egghead innovator Mike Lazaridis (Baruchel) and cut-throat businessman Jim Balsillie (Howerton)– joined forces in an endeavour that was to become a worldwide hit in little more than a decade. The device that one of them invented and the other sold was the BlackBerry, an addictive mobile phone that changed the way the world worked, played and communicated.
But just as BlackBerry was rising to new peaks, it also started losing its way through the fog of Smartphone wars, management indecision and outside distractions, eventually leading to the breakdown of one of the most successful ventures in the history of the tech and business worlds.
Unlike the device, the film, BlackBerry succeeds in pushing all the right buttons.
Event Details:
Friday, August 11 | 6:30pm
Pricing:
Palace Movie Club (max 2): $12
Palace Golden Club (max 2): $8.50
★★★★★
“This is one of those whip-smart, character- and story-driven gems that grabs you from the start and never lets go.”
– CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
“Howerton brings something to BlackBerry, the scrappy Canadian indie about a scrappy Canadian company that changed the world, that goes above and beyond his usual lovable sociopath act. It’s not range. It’s rage.”
– ROLLING STONE
★★★★
“BlackBerry” is a MoneyBro movie par excellence, right up there with “Wall Street,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Boiler Room,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
– ROGEREBERT.COM
★★★★
“A geeky good time.”
– THE NEW YORK POST
“A rollicking tech-world satire.”
Palace Electric
Friday, August 11
6:30pm Film
