Grade: A+
Director: David Fincher (Fight Club)
Writer: Aaron Sorkin (based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezerich)
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker and Armie Hammer as Cameron Winklevoss/Tyler Winklevoss
Once in a generation a movie comes along that jumps out and says, “Hey there, generation. Let me define you.” I know how cheesy what I just wrote sounds, but in the case of The Social Network, not only did it define our generation as a movie, but it defined what all films the rest of this generation should aspire to: excellence and perfection.
After being dumped by his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg runs back to his dorm and, while blogging about the whole situation, creates a website, in 6 “intoxicated” hours, called facemash.com where Harvard students can choose between two female undergrads which one is hotter. He is helped by his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Garfield) and roommate Dustin Moskovitz (Joseph Mazzello). Although it brings a lot of vilification Mark’s way, fellow students Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Hammer) and their business partner Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) take note of the talent Zuckerberg possesses and hire him to create a website they had an idea for called Harvard Connection. But Mark approaches Eduardo with an idea for a website called “thefacebook,” which would be an online social networking site exclusive to Harvard, putting “the whole college experience online.” With help from Napster founder Sean Parker (Timberlake), Zuckerberg begins a journey filled with success and failure, framed by the proceedings of two lawsuits against Mark, one by the Winklevoss twins and one by Eduardo.
There has been a consensus made that The Social Network is not based entirely on fact. Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz said the movie was a “dramatization of history…a lot of excited things happened in 2004, but mostly we just worked a lot and stressed out about things…the plot of the book/script unabashedly attacked (Zuckerberg), but I actually felt like a lot of his positive qualities come out truthfully in the trailer.” Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has said, “I don’t want my fidelity to be to the truth; I want it to be storytelling. What is the big deal about accuracy purely for accuracy’s sake, and can we not have the true be the enemy of the good?”
Good point, Mr. Sorkin. After all, your screenplay is one of the best to come out of Hollywood in quite a long time. You took a movie that was about the “invention of Facebook” and made it into a real human drama where Facebook took 5th place and you focused on social status, greed, corruption, economy and college. Today’s teenagers and college students can most definitely relate to certain aspects of this film. I certainly did. There are those rich kids who feel entitled to things. At one point in the film, Zuckerberg says the rich and entitled Winklevoss twins are suing him because “for the first time in their lives, things didn’t go exactly the way they were supposed to for them.” Sorkin hit on every major aspect of college life these days. Not only that, but he threw some clever lines in. For instance, when discussing his financial state, Parker says to a girl he just hooked up with, “Broke. There’s not a lot of money in free music. Even less when you’re being sued by everyone who’s ever been invited to the Grammys.” Timberlake has won six Grammy Awards. Don’t know if JT got the part before or after that line was written, but nonetheless.
Sorkin’s screenplay will get its due, trust me. So will David Fincher’s direction. The seamless cutting and intertwining of the multiple story lines and the storytelling ability of Fincher to make a movie about computer programmers one of the most compelling dramas in recent movie history is astounding and Mr. Fincher will also be handsomely rewarded.
But what makes The Social Network such a compelling film is the acting. It is not very often that a cast of actors work together so well on a movie.
Eisenberg takes on the nerdy role again, but he was so much more interesting a character than his previous roles in, say, Zombieland. He brings such a layered performance to the screen. First, we see the computer nerd who is trying to get over the loss of his girlfriend. Second, we see the guy who wants to make something unlike anything before. Third, he wants to build something “cool,” something that people will use forever and will invite their friends to use. Throughout the film, Eisenberg builds those layers, but he manages to let all three show. After Mark and the other Facebook workers move out to California for a summer to work on the website, Sean Parker comes by and takes Mark to a club. At the club, Sean tells Mark about why he started Napster; it was trying to get a girl’s attention. Mark made Facemash after breaking up with a girl. Mark asks Sean if, after his success, he still thinks about that girl. Sean looks around at the beautiful women surrounding him and emphatically says, “No!” But Mark has that look in his eyes that gives him distance between him and Sean.
Andrew Garfield’s subtle yet deadly performance as Zuckerberg’s best friend and Facebook co-founder Saverin is a career-making role. He will star next year in the Spider-Man reboot with Zombieland star Emma Stone. Saverin’s rotating personality and allegiances to either his instincts or his best friend were part of a complicated character to portary, and Garfield killed it.
The “villains” in the movie are a little ambiguous, but for review’s sake, we’ll call the “Winklevii,” as Zuckerberg refers to them, and Narendra “villains.” Armie Hammer also has a career-making turn, effectively portraying two people. Josh Pence, the unseen Josh Pence, is the body double for shots in which both twins are present, and Fincher digitally put Hammer’s face on top of Pence’s. The frustration in both Hammer and Minghella’s characters are evident throughout the film. Both actors should be recognized in some shape or form. Hammer will next star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Clint Eastwood’s film about J. Edgar Hoover. Minghella gives a fantastic performance as the sidekick to the villainous and privileged Winkelvosses.
Other supporting stars such as Mazzello playing co-founder Moskovitz, Mara portraying Zuckerberg’s ex-girlfriend, Brenda Song as Saverin’s girlfriend and Rashida Jones as one of the lawyers representing Zuckerberg in his two lawsuits turn in what was absolutely necessary in their small parts. Especially great were Mara, whose character is scathingly sarcastic (like Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes) in the opening scene with Zuckerberg, and Jones, who seems to have the attitude we have throughout the movie: trying to support Mark but still questioning things he did
The Social Network won four Golden Globes, for Best Picture – Drama, Screenplay, Director and Original Score. The film deserved all four. Eisenberg and Garfield will pick up nominations at the Oscars as well as for the four prior categories.
In my opinion, Timberlake should also pick up nominations. It seems like he is he playing nothing but himself because his portrayal seems so natural. I can’t get over how surprised I was walking out of the theater and then after seeing the movie in my dorm at school.
Anyways, I feel like I’ve been rambling for WAY too long and you’re probably getting bored with my praise of this movie. Let’s just say it’s well deserved.
