Geek Tragedy

Rating: 7/10 (22 March 2011)

This film chronicles the founding of the website Facebook. The story is told in flashbacks, turning a simple tale into a rather clumsy narrative. It is somewhat of a geek tragedy in that Zuckerberg, the founder of the most successful social network ever built, is a social misfit - basically a rude, arrogant jerk. Yes, it's the story of the little guy who makes it big, but the little guy is such a wet blanket that one can't root for him. Eisenberg delivers his lines so rapidly that one has to strain to understand what he's saying. Sprinking the dialog with technical jargon doesn't help matters. It's entertaining for the most part, but never rises above mediocrity.