I "like this"

Rating: 8/10 (30 September 2010)

Director David Fincher's The Social Network stars Jessie Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, and depicts how he became the billionaire behind the popular Facebook website. We start with the humble origin of the site's forerunner as a prank Mark pulls after breaking up with then girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara). This catches the attention of the school's social elites who pitch their site to Mark only to have him leave the project and launch Thefacebook, a site eerily similar to their concept. But before anyone can grasp the situation, Facebook becomes a phenomenon. Along for the bumpy ride are Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), Mark's best friends and FB co-founder, as well as Napster founder Sean Parker (played by Justin Timeberlake).
Tradition dictates that a film's protagonist, or hero, needs to be likable. When the audience isn't rooting for the hero, the movie usually falls apart. Not true for The Social Network, a movie that thrives on the disdain achieved by Mark Zuckerberg in this account. From the start he is overtly blunt, rude, and careless with no signs of remorse. Does this sound like a guy who would donate $100 million to a public school system? The Social Network chronicles Marks efforts to hijack ideas and leave out friends. It's a story about an antagonist.
Great performances abound. Jessie Eisdenberg is a distant, fast-talking, smart alec. Andrew Garfield has a fantastic scene where his easy going Eduardo loses his cool, and for once Justin Timberlake doesn't suck! I'm sure Sean and Justin mutually agree to his lady's man charlatan portrayal.
But the fun doesn't stop there. The score by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor's is reminiscent of Tangerine Dream and it lifts many scenes. I think some people will be letdown to find that the story of Facebook is framed by legal hearings but there are some clever screenplay elements put into play by scribe Aaron Sorkin. The Social Network is billed as a dark comedy, but I found it to be a straight drama. Almost every movie regardless of the subject has a lighthearted moment and that's what I see in The Social Network; it's a drama that happens to contain some humor. For instance it would behoove you stay on the good side of a twin who describes him as "6'5" 220 and there's 2 of me".
There are times where the use of soft focus goes to the extreme and the mise-en-scène masks drug use. Heck, college students even sub out the f-bomb for some truly awkward PG-13 retention dialog. Cutting from an R to grab a PG-13 for assumed profits has never been this bizarre.
Even without showing a dollar, The Social Network is a far more timely and engaging tale of greed and woe than last week's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, but still it would have been nice for the film to clarify how Facebook became so preposterously overvalued. After all, this is a move about some people you came into money and the audience never understand where the money came from. Is it the movie of this generation? Perhaps but that would be because this generation can't make an income from inventing a tangible product. My distaste for Facebook may be obvious, but I "like this".