Where to watch: Crave (Theatrical Version), CBC Gem (Series Version)
Director: Matt Johnson
The greatest Canadian movie of the year belongs to the one that so effectively told the story of the country’s biggest cellphone export ever: BlackBerry.
The Matt Johnson-directed film follows Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel), the founder of BlackBerry, as he builds the company up from scratch with the help of the infamous Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton).
Simply put, BlackBerry is hilarious. Howerton’s take on Balsillie echoes the anger felt in his performance as Dennis Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia while Baruchel’s Lazaridis comes off as a timid, nerdy guy who can’t make a decision.
It follows the typical beats of a biopic, but the movie is so frequently funny, that it doesn’t ever really matter.
Come for the tale about the rise and fall of BlackBerry, stay for the angry rant that Howerton’s Balsillie unleashes toward NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
