GFF 2023: Matt Johnson on telling the rise and fall of BlackBerry

In hilarious fashion, BlackBerry chronicles the rise and sharp decline of the world’s first smartphone. We down with writer-director and star Matt Johnson while he was attending the UK premiere at Glasgow Film Festival to discuss the film.

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Jay Baruchel plays the naive inventor of the BlackBerry, Mike Lazaridis; Only Sunny in Philadelphia’s Glenn Howerton is fantastic at Jim Balsillie, the shark-like businessman who helps Mike sell BlackBerry to the world; and Johnson himself plays Doug Fregin, the vest-wearing tech bro who started the company with Lazaridis but would rather have a good time than be in business.

The film is a delight, and a world away from tragic moral tales like The Social Network or Jobs. Johnson's approach is less ostentatious, bringing these tech giants down to a human level and telling a story full of wit and pathos. 

Glasgow Film Festival runs 1-12 March, get full details and tickets at glasgowfilm.org

TIMESTAMPS:

Glasgow, Limmy and deep-fried pizza (1:22)

Why make a film about the deeply uncool BlackBerry (3:38)

Casting Always Sunny's Glenn Howerton (7:47)

The film's 'fly-on-the-wall' style (10:30)

Borrowing from Robert Altman (14:12)

Making an honest story about capitalism (14:55)

Johnson's similarity to all three main characters (18:33)

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Music: Too Cool by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4534-too-cool) License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license