The Social Network is not all you think it to be

Rating: 10/10 (2 October 2010)

On October 28, 2003, at approximately 8:13 P.M, Mark Zuckenberg, a then student enrolled at Harvard Universe, then drunk and angered from an argument from his former girlfriend, Erica Albright, launched out a very derogative and hateful blog on Livejournal depicting her to being nothing more than "just a pretty face".
Who would have known that one little offensive blog post that only sent Zuckenberg to a 6 month (then shortened) probation of "academic activities" and from crashing the Harvard servers due to a survey of who was the hotter girl on campus could have lead him to almost 7 years, 500 million users, billions of dollars, and the ultimate American dream of running the biggest social networking site?
Let me say this right from the start: this is in my eyes the best film of the year (yes, even better then "Inception"). No, it's not the "Citizen's Kane" or "the film of the decade" that almost every critic seems to hype it up to be, but I must say: it's the best acted, written, and overall enjoyable film that I've seen in these last eight months by far. It combines something that I haven't really seen this entire year: creativity with a pure sense of norm. What I mean is that this film is creative in a sense of storytelling while remaining one thing we all in a film: for it to be not only watchable, but to be entertaining and "out of the box". "The Social Network" does this, and almost flawlessly in that sense.
Mark Zuckenberg is a very interesting character to say the least, not knowing what he's up to or thinking off. And it's all thanks to the brilliant performance by an actor that I even considered a "Michael Cera wanna-bee": Jessie Eisenberg (Zombieland, Adventureland). The way he portrays Zuckenberg as this intellectual mind with such knowledge of how to run a company, yet he can't run a personal relationship or keep his friends together was so interesting to watch. Every scene he sits in just gives off a very professional vive for such a young actor. Eisenberg is so worthy of an Oscar that I'm even going to proclaim that he's provided, to me at least, one of the most interesting characters in years to follow on screen. Especially scenes with him and Marylin Delpy, played by Rashida Jones, he really shines the best. Even in those scenes, he admits that he didn't want to do anything wrong to hurt those around him. He just what he felt was right, and that Facebook took from his "social life" and instead made the "social network" his new reality. Eisenberg shines in those scenes the best, as someone so flawed in personality but so flawless in mind. It's a tragic performance that, really, I won't ever forget.
And that's not all for the acting case: not at all. You also have two award-worthy acting breakthroughs for one newcomer, Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, Mark's long time friend and roommate, and Justin Timberlake as the very controversial Napster creator, Sean Parker. Yes, I just said Justin Timberlake, former NSYNC pop star and music superstar, gave a great performance away from his singing and instead in front of a movie camera. No matter who you talk about, both Garfield and Timberlake, deliver such knockout jobs that I have to commend them with not only the script that they were handed (I will talk about the script more bellow), but how much they really got into character. Fincher's directing and Sorkin's amazing script translates so well to the screen, its almost unmisable as to why you can't seem to hate Mark Zuckenberg.
And going back to Zuckenberg: it's more about the genius side of him that is the ultimate flaw in his master plan to get everything right: he can't compute in real life. A prime example of this is in the court room scenes, both being a self-centered know-it-all and a underprivileged snob that thinks he knows it all, while the only thing protecting him from losing everything is some faulty evidence and a good lawyer. Even with the first scene in the film (destined to be a classic in the dialogue department) between Eisenberg and Rooney Mara, its heavily shown that Zuckenberg doesn't live in the real world, but his own world.
In conclusion: For one of the very first time watching a film, I was more impressed with the script then the actual film itself. For such a film to come along, and not only surprise me to how amazing it was, it was just captivating to finally see Fincher return to the screen once again and bring another great film under his belt. His direction, Sorkin's script, and all three leads will get awards come Oscar time. This is the film of the year, and even though it pains me to say that I thought "Inception" was more mind blowing, this was the overall better film. From a drunken outrage over something minor, Mark Zuckenberg became the youngest billionaire in the world. And we have him to thank for changing how the world communicates with one another, no matter where on this earth. But to horror of Zuckenberg's world, he lost his own personal life and friends. Even with the lawsuits, the suing, and the final total in terms of who owns what, Zuckenberg will never get over he lost both Saverin and Parker as friends and business partners. I will continue to use it as well, but somewhat changes in one stance: trusting Zuckenberg as a person "you can be glad to have as a friend" is no longer the case. Even in the final scene tells how you can have everything and still have nothing. Even with the line that Rashida Jones provides before the credits role: "You're not a @$$hole, Mark, you just try so hard to be one.
10/10