The Curious Case of Mark Zuckerberg

Rating: 10/10 (3 October 2010)

"Fight Club" director David Fincher prefers to make movies about eccentric people. Not only do these folks exist on the fringe, but they are also pretty dysfunctional types. They are lethal serial killers, warped visionaries, baffled authority figures, and bizarre nonconformists. Fincher loves to tackle any genre. His first film was the science-fiction sequel "Alien 3." He has helmed two serial killer thrillers, first "Se7en" (1995) and then in "Zodiac." He put an executive through the ringer in "The Game," a movie about deception that rivals "The Sting." Fincher has even made his own weird "Forrest Gump" type movie with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Fincher's new film "The Social Network" could be subtitled "The Curious Case of Mark Zuckerberg." This scintillating, insightful, and compelling depiction of the trials and tribulations that Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg endured to make a billion dollar global success of his social-networking website will keep you riveted throughout its 121 engrossing minutes. Watching this movie is like riding an escalator. It never slows down to catch its breath. Mind you, "The Social Network" qualifies as one of Fincher's shorter movies. Lately, he likes to stretch his cinematic canvas to cover subject matter well over two hours in length. Happily, Fincher doesn't squander a second in "The Social Network," and "Charlie Wilson's War" scenarist Aaron Sorkin, who also wrote episodes of "The West Wing," provides crisp, snappy dialogue as well as surprises galore in a screenplay derived from reporter Ben Mezrich's book "The Accidental Billionaires." Of course, Fincher and Sorkin cover the biographical basics. Everything started at New England in 2003 and everything went into high gear in California when Facebook entered the orbital velocity. Initially, "The Social Network" adopts a chronological time line, but Fincher tires quickly of this and leaps into the future and then dances around in time wherever he pleases. There is nothing ordinary about this extraordinary expose, and the way Fincher and Sorkin skewer Facebook's creator as well as many of the people around him is a treat.
"The Social Network" unfolds in 2003 at Harvard University. A nineteen-year-old Harvard sophomore in a GAP hoodie, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg of "Adventureland"), insults his girlfriend, Erica (Rooney Mara of "Youth in Revolt"), at a Harvard bar, and she breaks up with him. In a fit of rage, Zuckerberg writes nasty things about her padded bra in his online Internet blog. Indeed, he is so fed up with Erica that he hastily assembles a website while he is getting drunk where anybody can evaluate Harvard co-eds based on their appearance. Zuckerberg gets himself in trouble with the administration because he had to hack the school's computer system to get the names of the co-eds. Zuckerberg's audacious stunt brings him to the attention of two stuck-up jocks, the wealthy Winklevoss twins, Cameron (Armie Hammer of "Billy: The Early Years") and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer ), as well as Divya Narendra (Max Minghella of "Agora"), an elite Harvard club member. They hire Zuckerberg to program a Harvard dating site which they want to christen 'The Harvard Connection.' Amusingly enough, actor Armie Hammer plays both identical twin brothers with the help of a body double. Basically, Zuckerberg sees some marginal merit in the Winklevoss twins' idea and modifies it with the help of his close friend and fellow student, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield of "Never Let Me Go"), a Brazilian who provides an algorithm for Zuckerberg to base the site upon.
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg keeps ignoring the Winklevoss twins and builds his new website 'The Facebook' and then expands it to other Ivy League universities. Initially, Eduardo serves as Zuckerberg's business partner and provides the financing. Eventually, Napster creator Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake of "The Open Road") enters the picture and contacts Zuckerberg. Parker persuades Zuckerberg to relocate to California. Parker also suggests that they drop the 'the' from The Facebook title. Zuckerberg is immediately impressed by the Napster creator and listens to him with more interest than any of his other friends. Not surprisingly, Eduardo and Zuckerberg have a falling out over Parker. Furthermore, Eduardo sees Parker as a mortal enemy who is going to force him out of the picture. Eduardo tries to limit Parker's spell over Zuckerberg by freezing the money in the Facebook account. Nevertheless, Zuckerberg and Parker score a deal for financing and everything proceeds smoothly for Zuckerberg's brain-child. Meantime, the Winklevoss twins and Divya decide to launch a lawsuit against Zuckerberg for allegedly appropriating their dating website and turning it into Facebook. Similarly, Eduardo launches a lawsuit at Zuckerberg because he feels that Parker getting between them. Betrayal emerges as a major theme in this outlandish yarn. When Zuckerberg isn't betraying the goofy Winklevoss twins, he sells out his close friend Eduardo. Later, when Parker goes off the deep end during a Facebook party for bagging their one-millionth customer, Zuckerberg betrays him, too. Ultimately, Zuckerberg loses the lawsuits, but the payments are so minuscule that he can pay off both the Winklevoss twins as well as Eduardo.
Unmistakably, "The Social Network" is Jesse Eisenberg's best movie, and the role seems tailored to his brand of quirky, fast-talking shtick. He delivers an accomplished performance as an obtuse nobody who wound up hooking up a billion people around the world without hooking himself up. Zuckerberg emerges from "The Social Network" as a dishonorable individual afflicted by a single-minded ambition as well as greed. He refuses to share anything with anybody and ends up paying the price for his perfidy. Future "Spider-Man" star Andrew Garfield is just as spectacular but also sympathetic as Zuckerberg's wronged friend. In a double role, Armie Hammer is downright hilarious as the goofy Winklevoss twins. Director David Fincher wrings deliciously juicy irony galore out the premise that the man who turned more than 500 million users into friends turned his back on his friends to make Facebook a crowning success.