Jay Baruchel
Mike
Overview
Two mismatched entrepreneurs – egghead innovator Mike Lazaridis and cut-throat businessman Jim Balsillie – joined forces in an endeavour that was to become a worldwide hit in little more than a decade. The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Last Laugh of the Smartphone Wars
I remember the first time I held a BlackBerry. It was 2005, and the device felt like a secret handshake—a tiny, tactile rebellion against the flip phones and Nokias cluttering everyone’s pockets. The keyboard was real.
The emails arrived instantly. For a brief, giddy moment, it seemed like the future had been delivered in a sleek, black rectangle. BlackBerry, Matt Johnson’s brisk and bittersweet comedy-drama about the rise and fall of the company behind that rectangle, understands this nostalgia. But it’s not here to wallow in it.
Instead, it treats the BlackBerry’s story as a kind of corporate tragedy, one where the heroes are flawed, the villains are mostly absent, and the real enemy is the relentless march of time itself.
The film’s first act is a masterclass in how to make corporate innovation feel thrilling. Johnson and co-writer Matthew Miller don’t waste time on exposition. We meet Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel), the quiet, brilliant engineer who invented the BlackBerry, and his childhood friend Douglas Fregin (played by Johnson himself), a laid-back tinkerer who serves as the project’s moral compass.
Their partnership is the heart of the film, a rare friendship built on mutual respect and shared obsession. When Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) enters the picture—a fast-talking, suit-wearing salesman with a chip on his shoulder and a plan to take over the world—it’s clear that the dynamic is about to shift. Howerton’s performance is a revelation.
He plays Balsillie as a man who’s equal parts charismatic and unhinged, a guy who could sell ice to an Eskimo but might also punch a hole in the wall if the deal falls through. There’s a scene early on where he pitches Lazaridis on his vision for the company, his eyes wild with ambition, his hands gesturing like a preacher mid-sermon. It’s funny, but it’s also unsettling.
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsHow BlackBerry Turned a Tech Flop Into a Darkly Comic Hollywood Hit
The rise and fall of BlackBerry—the once-ubiquitous smartphone that dominated boardrooms before being crushed by the iPhone—sounds like a cautionary tale for business schools. But in the hands of director Matt Johnson, it became something far more entertaining: a darkly comic, fast-paced dramedy that’s as much about friendship and hubris as it is about circuit boards. BlackBerry (2023) has been called "surprisingly funny" 
and a "personal story" that turns corporate collapse into gripping cinema. latestnetflix.com's read is that here’s how the filmmakers pulled it off—and why audiences are obsessed.
From Mockumentary Roots to Tech Tragedy
Matt Johnson isn’t your typical biopic director. Known for his improvisational, mockumentary-style films like Operation Avalanche, Johnson specializes in blurring the line between reality and fiction, often using handheld cameras and naturalistic performances to create a sense of immediacy . That approach paid off in BlackBerry, where the film’s chaotic energy mirrors the real-life frenzy of the company’s early days.
The movie is loosely adapted from Losing the Signal, a book by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff that chronicles BlackBerry’s spectacular rise and fall . But Johnson and co-writer Matthew Miller didn’t just dramatize the facts—they injected the story with the kind of humor and pathos that makes corporate greed feel like a Shakespearean tragedy. Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton star as Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the unlikely duo behind BlackBerry’s success, with Howerton in particular delivering a performance that’s equal parts hilarious and cringe-inducing .
The Cast’s Chemistry: A Bromance for the Ages
If BlackBerry works, it’s largely because of the dynamic between Baruchel and Howerton. The two leads reportedly clicked immediately, with Howerton describing the film as a "personal story" about ambition and friendship . Their on-screen chemistry—part buddy comedy, part corporate thriller—drives the movie’s emotional core, even as the plot spirals into chaos.
Supporting players like Cary Elwes (as a slick corporate raider) and Michael Ironside (as a no-nonsense executive) add depth, but it’s Johnson himself who steals scenes as Doug Fregin, Lazaridis’s laid-back co-founder. The director’s knack for improvisation likely helped the cast find the film’s tone, which balances sharp satire with genuine heartbreak.
Netflix’s Unexpected Hit
After premiering at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, BlackBerry landed on Netflix in July—and viewers were hooked. Social media lit up with praise for the film’s "incredible" drama and "goosebump"-inducing moments . Critics echoed the enthusiasm, calling it "surprisingly funny" and praising Johnson’s direction for setting the perfect tone .
The film’s 6.6/10 rating on SensCritique suggests it’s not a flawless masterpiece, but its cult appeal is undeniable. For a movie about a defunct smartphone, BlackBerry has managed to feel weirdly timely, tapping into nostalgia for the pre-iPhone era while serving as a warning about the dangers of unchecked ambition.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
Similar Movies
Related titles ranked by rating and popularity.
