At least one critic is unimpressed with what he's seen of the forthcoming Steve Jobs biopic: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says Jobs would have been "offended and embarrassed" by Kutcher's portrayal of him in jOBS. Wozniak's comments came after a sneak peek of Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad as Jobs and Wozniak debuted on the Internet Thursday. Speaking to "Good Morning America" this week, the Apple co-founder was harshly critical of the first footage to emerge from the film.
"As far as the personalities that were in that scene [laughs] this was just ridiculous. Like Steve Jobs as some sort of 'oh my gosh, I'm the father of society, I've got the ideas that are gonna drive the--' No, he didn't act like that at all."
Wozniak says Jobs didn't embrace the role of tech visionary until much later in his life.
The "Good Morning America" interview is the third time in two days that Wozniak has criticized the film publicly. Initially, he took to the comment thread of a Gizmodo post announcing the clip, saying it appeared the filmmakers got his and Jobs' personalities "very wrong although mine is closer."
He later followed up in an email saying that it was he, not Jobs, who initially recognized the potential in democratizing technology. Jobs, he says, was more interested in monetizing Wozniak's designs.
"The Apple I was the [fifth] time I designed something just for fun that Steve found a way to turn into money, and the Apple ][ was the [sixth] time."
Back with "Good Morning America," Wozniak continued, saying that he thinks the late Jobs would have been "a little offended and embarrassed by it just like myself... I think he would say that was, you know, a little bit too phony."
jOBS, set for release on April 19, covers Jobs' earlier years, including the founding of Apple, through to the company's eventual triumphs and Jobs' death in 2011. The publicist for the film, speaking with Entertainment Weekly, said that the film "is not a documentary, nor is it meant to be a blow by blow, word for word account of all conversations and events... [it] is feature film entertainment about one of the most important, creative and impactful people [in] our culture's history..."
Wozniak did not act as a consultant in the development of jOBS; instead, he was contracted to work on a rival film, due out later from Sony and penned by "The Social Network" scribe Aaron Sorkin. Wozniak leaves open the possibility that the Kutcher film could still be good, noting that he's only watched one scene.
One last thing the film appears to have gotten wrong, though: the wardrobe. Woz says "I never wore a tie or looked like a professional and in that scene I kind of looked like, like a real professional."
Wozniak on jOBS biopic: 'So far from anything that really happened'
By Kevin Bostic