Not as good as the hype!

Rating: 6/10 (23 October 2010)

In the fifties and sixties, the BBC in the UK used to produce drama documentaries - plays with deliberately no stars that were a rendition of actual events and characters, eg today's made-for-TV biopics. The scripts were fairly plodding and there were no directorial visual flourishes, but it was fair. 'The Social Network' is in this mould - pretty good but ultimately fails to deliver - except it's got Hollywood production values (and a few other sorts), a script by a crackerbarrel writer, and an auteur as director. Sorry, lads, the script, yes, has its' moments and its' flourishes, but almost completely fails to explain the motivation or characterisation of some fairly creepy people. While the direction could have been left in the hands of a second year Film School student for all the effort expended. Compare the sequences of seduction by a satanic business figure in 'Wall Street 2' - a tour de force - and the anally retentive, hero worship sequence in this picture. Fancy letting Oliver Stone outgun you, Mr Fincher!
As we all know, the film is about the creation of the present day social phenomenon called 'Facebook' and its subsequent falling out between the major players leading to litigation. It's a multi-billion company, but we are not told how it makes money/its' business model, despite one of the founders - Eduardo Saverain - being portrayed as hopeless in trying to get the business off the ground by flogging advertising (this point is rammed home four times at least, but we are not told what does work!). We also never are given an explanation why Eduardo likes the eminently up-his-own ass Zuckerberg in the first place - a dimension on which the whole drama of the film depends! I do understand that the legal consequences of over-egging the script were very great and the explanations at the end are glib and suppositional, but something other than joining Harvard clubs, getting laid, and 'the family' (The Sopranos are mentioned!) as motivators is expected of a 'great' script!
The acting is very good, but eventually becomes boring and one-paced as there is no development of character. We are also never told or experience what makes 'Facebook' so powerful for so many people! How can that be in a critically acclaimed film? The ending just fizzles out like most of the promised drama, and would any female want to see this bunch of nerdy geeks (I suppose Justin Timberlake might just make it!)? And as for the orgy lite dimension of rich Harvard boy clubs - strip poker where nobody gets their underwear off, and strippers who also do not get their underwear off! Really, that's the parallel of the deep-seated fault at the heart of the script and whole film - a tease that fails to show what everybody is really interested in. A terrible missed opportunity!