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Movie Review: The Social Network

The Social Network tells the story of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (third from left, played by Jesse Eisenberg) while he was at Harvard University. (Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures)

[xrr rating=4/4]

Who knew Facebook could lead to something this great?  The backstory of the world’s largest social networking site has become the source of the most engrossing and well-executed film released this year.

Director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin depict with style and intelligence Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to fame . The Social Network is as addictive as Facebook itself and has much better humor. Yet this is a film with ambitions far beyond being a website’s profile page — it concerns itself with themes of social isolation and betrayal, and raises important questions about the validity of our Internet “friends” and what our culture has become if it can only be viewed through the funhouse mirror of a computer screen.

The Social Network opens with a scene worthy of the film. Still-in-college Zuckerberg, portrayed with small doses of virulent condescension by Jesse Eisenberg, banters with his girlfriend Erica at a bar near the Harvard campus. Their repartee is impeccably written, fast-paced and hilarious, a verbal barrage of wit delivered at blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace.  (I pity the actors who, under Fincher’s perfectionist regime, had to perform over ninety takes to compress the conversation into a dialogue-bloated two minutes.)

At the climax of the scene, Mark takes a snobbish stab at Erica’s BU education, obliterating any of her remaining patience for his intellectual arrogance and pretensions. As the floodwaters of exasperation gush out, Erica dumps Mark and declares him an asshole with the most memorable diss in the film. Left incredulous and dateless, Mark storms home with thunderclouds of ambition forming in his head.  It is later that night, in a drunken binge of vengeful hacking, that Facebook’s predecessor, Facemash, is born.

The Social Network continues at an exhilarating pace from there, as David Fincher’s sophisticated directing captures with dramatic flair the rise of Facebook to an Internet colossus . Mark plays a crucial (though slightly overbearing) role as the site’s creator and visionary.

After some inspiration/theft from the entitled Winklevoss twins (a pair of born-into-Harvard, crew-rowing gentleman frequently used for comic relief by the filmmakers), Mark creates the site in partnership with his best friend Eduardo. Facebook’s initial popularity  astounds its founders, and soon Mark and Eduardo are enjoying nerd-superstar status.

As Facebook begins to get attention across the country, Sean Parker and his move-to-California mantra begin to sorely tempt Mark. Sean was one of the co-founders of Napster, which grants him the equivalent of VIP status in the programming world. Justin Timberlake blows up this dynamite role with all the necessary ingredients, performing with a swagger and magnetism few could replicate.

Sean’s ambitions manipulate Mark into some regrettable decisions, with serious repercussions for his friendship with Eduardo. Facebook is supposedly all about socializing, but the site eventually lost its creator his best, and possibly only, friend.

Both Eduardo and the Winklevosses eventually sue Zuckerberg, and the plot is told from the well-situated vantage point of those lawsuits.  This cleverly constructed narrative allows the audience to witness important events as the characters reflect upon them, presenting the action with extra dimension and impact. Experiencing the emotional repercussions of a betrayal is much more powerful when the victim’s reaction has matured past the instinctive responses of anger and denial, settling into a subdued and deeply tragic regret.

The Social Network is a great yarn told with an even better script, a plot that allows for a rare fusion of classic storytelling with credible commentary on modern life.  The movie could be marketed as “Shakespearean betrayal meets the digital age.”

Fincher, renown for his visual mastery, makes an odd couple with Sorkin, for whom a constant bombardment of witty dialogue at a blistering pace is the norm. (The opening scene epitomizes his style.) Their collaboration works remarkably well, as Fincher can augment an already exemplary monologue with a mood-setting montage or other stylistic touches.

Perhaps one of the greatest successes of the film is that the viewer is left to decide for him or herself the moral of the story. A carefully plotted narrative (which was written to be interpreted in several different ways, as the truth itself is in dispute) working with the layered emotions and moral ambiguity of each character allows the viewer remarkable freedom in judging the events witnessed.

The perfectly nuanced performances from each of the main actors also helps in this regard.  In particular, I was impressed by how Mark was portrayed as such a relatable, but ultimately flawed character. Considering some of his actions, and his anti-social personality, Mark’s character potentially could have been an over-sized target for resentment, or even be seen as the story’s villain.

Thankfully, the film avoids this fatal trap, employing a few thoughtful scenes that, in combination with Eisenberg’s subtle performance, reveal Zuckerberg’s emotional side and develop the character past his flaws. It adds an ironic twist to the film that the creator of the world’s biggest social networking site is anti-social; it would have crippled the plot if he were abhorrent.

Summary: The Social Network is the movie of the year so far, an impeccably written and sharply directed film that portrays its characters as more complicated beings than most people appear as on their own Facebook pages.  By using a creative plot structure to explore traditional dramatic themes, and despite the narrative’s obviously modern focus, The Social Network has become a modern classic, a film that may be remembered for longer than the actual Facebook will.

View Comments (7)
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Comments (7)

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  • J

    join4filmsJun 11, 2015 at 9:48 PM

    Nice review that you have made, thanks for it. Movies are the best source of entertainment or relaxation. it is just like the need of our body. Among the least popular audience factors provide additional services and entertainment that can provide theater – more than half (52%) of the respondents do not consider this criterion is important when choosing a movie theater. And six in ten (62%) of moviegoers said that for them no matter the presence in the theater bar or cafe.

    Reply
  • Y

    YDoYouCare?Jan 25, 2011 at 3:28 PM

    Review The Town!!!

    Reply
  • N

    nobodyNov 15, 2010 at 7:20 AM

    The Social Network was easily one of the best movies I've seen ever.

    Reply
  • F

    fanOct 22, 2010 at 7:44 PM

    don't listen to them this is pretty kick butt!!!

    Reply
  • V

    VitaminOct 17, 2010 at 4:41 PM

    Way to give everything away. NOT cool. guess im not reading any more of your reviews

    Reply
  • P

    PlumbOct 17, 2010 at 4:37 PM

    yeah honestly kid what are you thinking. AWFUL review.

    Reply
  • A

    asdfOct 14, 2010 at 7:42 PM

    theres no way that the movie will be remembered longer than actual facebook

    Reply
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Movie Review: The Social Network