Three cheers for The Social Network

Rating: 10/10 (26 December 2010)

Love, jealousy, money, and greed. These are four of the most powerful driving forces in the world and they are also the primary driving forces behind The Social Network. I absolutely loved this movie. Director David Fincher did not waste anytime getting us right into the plot.
A young Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) opens the movie by dazzling us with his somewhat careless yet brilliant tech skills. He moves quickly and does not falter. He is incredibly intelligent but has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth all too often. He's also neurotic and two-faced. One of his only friends in the world, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) blazes through the internet with Zuckerberg as they explore the world of dot-coms.
Due to a prank of epic proportions pulled by Zuckerberg, he starts to get press and is suddenly under fire having to defend his actions.
The movie moves right along with occasional laughs and we are able to witness the creation of the website that has become the most popular dot-com of our generation. We also get to see the controversy over who thought of it first. Is it really a stolen idea? Is Mark Zuckerberg and evil genius? Everyone in this film gives a superb performance. And I mean everyone. There is not one role that I can think of that was just O.K. Jesse Eisenberg was - as everyone has already said - incredible. I'm a little tardy to the party on this one, but I completely agree with the general consensus that this is surely going to get a few Oscar nods. I wasn't so sure about it before today, but I left the theater in a daze. Not many movies do that to me anymore.
While I am sure that the most buzz was that which surrounded Michael Cera wannabe Jesse Eisenberg in a role that completely shattered that image, I was seriously wowed by Andrew Garfield who played Eduardo Saverin. If this movie is at all accurate as far as Zuckerberg's personality - and who knows if it is - being Mark's best friend was trying and most of the time emotionally exhausting. Watching the roller coaster of emotion that Eduardo experienced was difficult. Zuckerberg played the "come here, go away" game for much of the film leaving Eduardo at the end of his rope.
Brenda Song broke away from her squeaky clean Disney Channel persona to play Eduardo's crazy girlfriend. The Winklevoss boys played by Armie Hammer provided much-needed comedic relief in some of the tense parts of the film and also provided serious eye candy. Am I right, ladies? Justin Timberlake as Napster founder Sean Parker started off weak, but as the film progressed I saw that N'Sync glow fade away and he became someone completely different.
The movie was excellent and a must see. While I don't think this will win best picture, I do see a possible best actor award for Jesse Eisenberg and I have a strong feeling that Andrew Garfield could take home best supporting actor.
One of the most memorable scenes for me was the very last scene of the film. Of course I won't say what the last scene is, but it reaffirmed everything I thought I knew the whole time.
See it if you haven't and watch it again if you have. It's fantastic and entertaining and embodies all of the necessary components of a great dramedy.
Also, Vega Choir did a marvelous cover of Creep by Radiohead for the trailer of the film.
Enjoy!
(Check out my other reviews and much more at www.mssilverscreen.wordpress.com)