Ahhh, the BlackBerry. The smartphone before the smartphone. No BlackBerry, no Apple iPhone. When not chatting crap about movies with Outposters, out there, in the real world, I am a corporate monkey who wears a suit and has a real grown-up job. BlackBerry has a special place in my heart.
The day my old boss told me I had finally reached the heady heights of requiring a company BlackBerry was a big day. The satisfyingly clicky buttons made responding to work emails on the train while commuting a pleasure. You were part of a club of serious executive people doing serious executive things that were so seriously important they couldn’t wait until you were back in the office.
This was at the heart of their wincingly cringe-inducing, infamous international advert that is still one of the greatest terrible adverts of all time:
Back then, it was the most widespread handset in the world. Popular with executives, and teens for BBM instant messenger long before WhatsApp was even a thing. BlackBerry essentially created the market and then lost it to ruthless competitors like Apple and Samsung.
Now IFC Films has released the official trailer BlackBerry. The movie tells the story of the rise of the world’s first smartphone:
“A whirlwind ride through a ruthlessly competitive Silicon Valley at breakneck speeds.”
The movie will cover the relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie as their Canadian company, Research in Motion, releases their new phone. Legal disputes led to the loss of first-mover advantage as Silicon Valley big beasts circled.
Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Saul Rubinek, Cary Elwes, Michael Ironside, Rich Sommer, SungWon Cho, and Michelle Giroux star.
Canadian director Matt Johnson (The Dirties) also co-wrote the screenplay with Matthew Miller. BlackBerry is based on the bestseller Losing the Signal by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. Its theatrical release is on May 12th.
A long career means I genuinely have a whole box full of these things in my office at home.
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