Engaging, Intelligent, and one of the year's best

Rating: 10/10 (1 October 2010)

Why are we all so addicted to Facebook?
"The simplest explanation I can think of is that basically everyone has friends and family that they want to stay connected with, and social networks are the best tool we have today to stay connected with all these people at once."- Mark Zuckerberg (the real one)
The Social Network isn't simply "The Facebook Movie", this isn't the movie that many are expecting by any means. Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, created Facebook in his college dorm room and now is one of the richest men in the world. To some, Zuckerberg is a complete dick and many who watch this film might even think that. One of the most important things to do when watching The Social Network is to factor everybody's perspectives into everything. Without this, the film can be completely misinterpreted.
Mark Zuckerberg is a person just like you or I in every way possible. His Facebook profile says that he likes The Godfather, Gladiator, and The Matrix. The difference between us and him, he has almost $7 billion dollars. That and he's a prodigy, a genius, and an innovator. Not only is he all of those things, he's better than a lot of people at them. Zuckerberg launched Facebook, originally known as TheFacebook, back in February 2004 with his friend Eduardo Saverin. Who is Eduardo Saverin though? People know of Mark Zuckerberg, but nobody knows of Eduardo Saverin. Saverin co-founded Facebook with Zuckerberg by fronting many of the initial start up costs and also served as the company's Chief Financial Officer. In the film, Saverin is pushed out by Sean Parker (founder of Napster) through a series of documents that eliminates his role in the company. The Social Network isn't just about the founding of Facebook through hours of computer coding, it's about the relationships between these individuals.
At the film's running time of 120 minutes, the translation from script to film is quite amazing. The dialogue is fast-paced and doesn't give you a break to sit in your seat and relax. For some this may be difficult to soak in, however this is how Zuckberg's world works. One of the best parts about Aaron Sorkin's screenplay is how intelligent it is, it doesn't dumb itself down at all to make it completely accessible to everyone. What's also interesting about Sorkin's script is his ability to have such opposing elements work so well. While the film is a drama in many ways, the film is actually quite hilarious at times in it's own little ways. The film's ability to seamlessly work through the creation of Facebook and the depositions that Zuckerberg faced is rather interesting. The film is bookended by some of the best scenes I've seen in a while. It begins with Zuckerberg fast-talking with his girlfriend Erica in a bar over random facts about Chinese intelligence. Erica breaks up with him because as she puts it "you're an asshole." Zuckerberg lives his life with tunnel vision and for this reason many don't understand him, it's not his choice but simply who he is. The ending is just as good with Zuckerberg cowering over his laptop in hopes that Erica will be his friendon Facebook. What's so interesting is the journey that takes Zuckerberg to that end point of the film. There's never a dull moment in The Social Network with the constant flow of information flowing and engaging you into the movie.
The ability for somebody to like this film will most likely hinge on their ability to like Zuckerberg or not. If you walk out of this movie and think that Mark Zuckerberg is a complete jerk, you didn't understand the character. In the film, I saw a bit of myself in Zuckerberg was able to identify with the character. Zuckerberg isn't really afraid to say screw you to somebody else to insult them. Some might conceive this as a mean thing, while others may think the other person is just unable to handle the truth. He's constantly trying to bring himself towards success, but for what reason? I guess that's a question we all have to ask ourselves.
The acting performances in this film are all terrific and I'm quite positive that Jesse Eisenberg will be up for Best Actor this year. This is by far his best performance of his career and a new road for him as an actor. The former star of The Love Guru, Justin Timberlake, redeems himself and shows that he's not only a talented musician but an actor too. Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin is great too by being one of the only sincere friends that Zuckerberg has.
This is probably the best David Fincher has ever been as a director. His ability to make the film so engaging and interesting is what makes it so great. The film is well balanced in all regards unlike some of his other films that lacked unity. The Social Network is the movie to see this weekend and one of the best films of the year.