A fantastic showcase of brilliant acting

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2014)

What makes The Social Network such a fantastic movie is the extraordinary performance of all the actors involved as well as the film's ability to have you rooting for every side. Jesse Eisenburg was a fantastic Zuckerburg and displayed how it truly feels to be a socially awkward nerd. In a not at all kiddish way, Zuckerburg simply wants to be cool. He does not found Facebook with the intent of being successful, he simply wants to be liked and superior. This film fantastically conveys this with moments such as the rejection of the idea to begin advertisements on Facebook because, though this would bring a large sum of money, it wasn't "cool". Zuckerburg constantly battles with his inability to connect with anyone outside of himself and others with his same motivation and in the end, it costs him his best friend and a small fortune. Andrew Garfield, for lack of a better description, is the standout actor of the film. The relatively unknown name of Eduardo Saverin would have remained as such had Garfield not given his character a personality that portrayed the view of the common man observing the passage at play. Throughout the film Saverin is used repeatedly by his best friend and finally discarded like a broken tool. Saverin provides the mood for the entire movie, being the comic relief in lighthearted scenes and demonstrating the anger and betrayal felt in the upsetting scenes. Though this movie is a success on many fronts, it does become noticeably less interesting in scenes in which the Winklevoss twins and Sean Parker were prevalent. This is not for lack of performance, but rather that the scenes were often unnecessary and irrelevant. For example, the scene in which Parker tells Zuckerburg about the founding of Victoria's Secret could have been completely erased with no negative repercussions. The same applies to the twins' meeting with Larry Summers. Despite these few flaws, this is a must watch movie in the age of technology that sheds light on the controversial introduction to one of the world's current most well-known companies around the world.