‘BlackBerry’ Beats Other Business Biopics With Strong Performances

by Alexis Gentry · Published May 12, 2023 · Updated March 15, 2024

The cast of BLACKBERRY in Matt Johnson’s BLACKBERRY. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

Director Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry is smaller in scale than other recent business biopics but contains some of the strongest performances.

With AIR, Tetris, BlackBerry the upcoming release of Flamin’ Hot, it’s fair to say that movies about popular products from the recent past are all the rage right now. These movies tap into our collective nostalgia for things we remember loving while offering a more cinematic narrative of how those things came to be.

While I don’t personally have nostalgia for owning a BlackBerry, I remember a time before the iPhone and Android when BlackBerry was considered the height of smartphone tech. The idea of being able to check your email and use a keyboard right from your phone seemed like a leap into the future when compared to the T-9 flip phones my friends and I were using back then.

Glenn Howerton as “Jim Balsillie” in Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release

BlackBerry focuses on the iconic rise of parent company RIM (Research in Motion), led by Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and Douglas Fregin (writer-director Matt Johnson), nerds who know a lot more about brilliant engineering than they do about corporate negotiation. Their revolutionary idea for a phone that does email isn’t getting much traction until they partner with Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), an overly-ambitious executive who knows how to sell the product. With Lazaridis and Balsillie ruling as co-CEOs while Fregin works with a team of engineers, RIM becomes the leader in the smartphone space. But soon, they’re faced with a new threat when Steve Jobs steps on stage to introduce “an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator” that would mark the beginning of the end for BlackBerry.

Jay Baruchel as “Mike Lazaridis” and Matt Johnson as “Doug” n Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry. — Jay Baruchel as “Mike Lazaridis” and Matt Johnson as “Doug” in Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

This movie feels smaller in scale and production than AIR or Tetris, but it boasts some of the strongest performances in any of these recent corporate biopics. Baruchel and Howerton are both fantastic, becoming their characters in a way that made me forget I was watching very well-known comedic actors. I remember Baruchel from back in the days of Undeclared, so seeing him with white hair as Lazaridis made me realize how many years it’s been since he played a college freshman on that underrated series. Howerton is best known for his iconic performance as Dennis Reynolds on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but shows range here by making Balsillie endearing despite being overly ambitious and a bit of a schemer.

The true standout among the cast has to be Johnson, who steals every scene with some of the best comedic line delivery in the film. He plays Fregin as a fun nerd who really believes in the tech and develops a company culture that makes employees truly love their jobs, though productivity and focus take a hit. As with so many of these movies, there’s always got to be someone who believes in the thing that risks being cut out of everything when the atmosphere turns more corporate and Fregin is that guy here. His sincerity, humor, and heart serve a key purpose in the narrative, making BlackBerry feel like more than just a story about a phone.

If you have any interest in pre-iPhone smartphone tech, if you’re a fan of Howerton or Baruchel, or if you’re just looking for some early 2000s nostalgia, BlackBerry delivers an engaging story, complete with lots of laughs and compelling performances from its cast.