Balsillie, filled with the kind of ambition that simply couldn’t be contained in his previous corporate job, promptly burns all of his bridges and goes all in on Research in Motion. He swiftly gets their ship in order, and after a manic production session that sees Mike build a working (albeit crude) prototype of his idea over the course of one frenzied evening, they’re off to the races. And the rest is history. BlackBerry takes over the world (at least for a little while).
What works really well about “BlackBerry” is that it takes this cast of actors who are predominantly known for their comedic skills, and it puts them in an environment where they’re able to use elements of what they do best, but with a little dramatic spin on it. When it comes to their roles in BlackBerry, the way it works is this: Mike (Baruchel) is the brains, Doug (Johnson) is the heart, and Jim (Howerton) is the muscle. Mike is uncompromising in his vision — our introduction to him is fixing an office intercom system with an annoying buzz, a physical manifestation of companies who have cut corners, creating products that are fundamentally flawed because they no longer care enough to strive for perfection.
He wants to see his BlackBerry made, but not unless he can put out a product he can be proud of. Over the course of the film, we watch him torn between Doug, who encourages him to stay true to his values and operates as a physical manifestation of his conscience, and Jim, who just wants them all to make a lot of money by any means necessary. (Howerton is untethered in this role, filled with the rage and intensity lurking underneath every Harvard MBA.) Baruchel brings a tremendous amount of humanity to a character who seems to embody a kinder, gentler version of the tech industry, making it all the more disappointing when he sacrifices his ideals more and more over the years to keep the company afloat.
