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31st July 2025
02:11pm BST

Blackberry, the brilliant 2023 biographical comedy drama, has become a streaming hit after being recently added to Netflix.
Co-written and directed by Matt Johnson (Nirvanna the Band the Show), the Canadian movie is a dramatised account of the rise and fall of the BlackBerry line of mobile phones.
In particular, the story focuses on the "unlikely partnership" between inventor Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel, This is the End) and investor Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton from It's Always Sunny, sporting a shaved head). The former is depicted as brilliant if shy, while the latter is presented as bold and brash.
Though it may not sound like the funnest subject matter to make a film about, trust us when we say that the end product is hugely enjoyable.
The chalk-and-cheese relationship between Balsillie and Lazaridis is hilariously rendered, the lead performances (particularly Howerton's) are hysterical, while the period detail and soundtrack are incredible.
Also, there is something very humorous about making a Social Network/Steve Jobs-esque movie focused on BlackBerry, a brand that's success was short-lived, compared to Apple and Facebook.
It is not just us who love the comedy-drama, as it holds a whopping 97% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Check out some other raves for BlackBerry below:
The Atlantic: "BlackBerry is one of the best business biopics I’ve seen."
AV Club: "Investing heartily in its story's personalities, and eschewing myth-making reverence or preciousness, BlackBerry's makers entertainingly frame their film as a workplace dramedy about industry gate-crashers rudely ejected from a party of their own staging."
Chicago Sun-Times: "This is one of those whip-smart, character- and story-driven gems that grabs you from the start and never lets go."
Empire: "A corporate comedy of errors — but the film really shines thanks to Howerton, whose towering, shark-like performance makes him a villain for the ages."
The Ringer: "The MVP: Glenn Howerton as BlackBerry’s unscrupulous co-CEO, Jim Balsillie, who never met an underling he didn’t want to snap in half."
Time Out: "Even more than The Social Network, where Aaron Sorkin’s script treats Mark Zuckerberg and co like flawed deities, this blackly comic corporate drama finds something intrinsically ridiculous about these egotistical men."
BlackBerry was recently added to Netflix in Ireland and the UK. It has since made it into the top 10 of JustWatch's movie streaming charts for both territories.
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