The Plot

After a heated and less than amicable break-up on a fall night in 2003, Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg), a brilliant Computer Science undergraduate at Harvard, the world’s most prestigious university, embarks on an inebriated and vexatious flurry of blogging, programming and hacking which through an amalgamation of serendipity and genius would latter see him, in a few short years, become the youngest billionaire in history. However, billion dollar ideas are not exempt from the pitfalls of human weakness and envy, and for Mark, his road to success is beset by personal and legal complications. The clandestine and murky nature of Facebook’s inception takes centre stage in this riveting story which ultimately explores a highly salient question: who is the true founder of Facebook?

The Thoughts

First and foremost, it would be felicitous for me to state that I, like the majority of others who have seen this film, loved it. The Social Network is, after all, an opulent and exciting depiction of the meteoric rise of one of the most important innovations of our generation, and perhaps even in the history of the world. Facebook has connected the world on a scale never before seen, and has revolutionized the topography of culture, relationships, art, politics, and not to mention popular jargon, with phrases such as ‘Facebook me’ now part of the popular English lexicon.

But I digress. Here is why the film is awesome.

It’s harder to think of a more befitting combination of Director David Fincher and screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin to have adapted Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal (2009) to the silver-screen. I have been a fan of Fincher’s work for several years now, and especially his ability to both utlise and maximise the acting talents of Brad Pitt in some of my favourite films to date, including Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999),  and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), not to mention the fascinating albeit darkly perturbing Zodiac (2007). With the compounded genius of Fincher and Sorkin (of critically acclaimed TV drama The West Wing fame), what ensues is a sardonic synthesis of truth and fiction that is enthralling throughout without being conceited.

The cast of the film is an excellent ensemble of young talent, and with Sorkin at the helm, the dialogue is unwavering and mellifluously eloquent. The cinematography is also, as is now so typical of Fincher, darkly vivid with impeccable camera work throughout and a lush ambience added to every scene. There are however times that the editing of the film could have been better executed as the intercutting between the various law suits can leave one somewhat nonplussed as to where the legal proceedings are headed.

Nonetheless, there is infinitesimal room to criticise The Social Network. As hitherto mentioned, the cast, directing and writing in this film is excellent. Jesse Eisenberg is incandescent in his depiction of Zuckerberg as a pale, scrawny, part-neurotic part-sociopathic loner who in his attempts to become part of the exclusive ‘final clubs’ at Harvard, paradoxically ends up becoming more isolated in the process. Justin Timberlake is also fantastic in his portrayal of the infamously idiosyncratic and paranoid Sean Parker (of ‘Napster’ fame for all you music lovers out there), as are the rest of the cast, who, time and word count permitting, would also receive ample kudos herewith.

Overall, to avoid any kind of intentional or unintentional ‘spoilers’, I think it is apt to surmise my review of this movie without giving too much away. After all, much of general thrust of the film is widely available as public knowledge already; therefore to spoil the Hollywood twists-and-turns that have been added to the mix would do it an injustice. It is fair to say however that much of the sex and alcohol-fuelled partying depicted in the film is more for the enjoyment of the audience and less, as sourced by the introvert real-life computer nerds themselves (on whom the film is based), an accurate depiction of their long hours spent coding and programming Facebook.

To conclude, whilst Zuckerberg is not portrayed in the most favourable light in the film (whilst again trying to avoid spoilers, let me just say that he is depicted as a surreptitious backstabber who sold out his best-friend for no clear reason other than envy, as well as a group of fellow wealthy Harvard students with similar goals to his own), it is nonetheless an exceptional story of entrepreneurial genius and a reaffirmation of the age-old axiom that all a person really needs is a great idea and the drive to see it through to reach the apex of life. ­­­­However, it also leads one to believe, for better or worse, that ultimately true business acumen, when working, to use an analogy, in a small tank with a lot of big sharks, requires the ability to be ruthless, conniving, and even nefarious to survive and flourish. Whilst there are therefore Social Darwinist tendencies explored in the film, it is on the whole an exhilarating thrill-ride that takes the audience through the paranoid, nasty and insidious whirlwind that later became a website that is much loved friend to us all.

Now, I wonder if anyone wrote on my Facebook page whilst I was writing this…better check my profile.

The Film Buzz Official Rating: *********~ (9/10)

UK Release Date: 15 October 2010

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Aaron Sorkin

Se7en and Zodiac director David Fincher will take up the director’s chair, with Jesse Eisenberg playing Facebook billionaire owner Mark Zuckerberg. Justin Timberlake stars as well as Max Minghella and Andrew Garfield. The Social Network hits UK theatres at the end of this year.

The Film Buzz Anticipation Rating: ******~~~~ (6/10)

UK Release Date: Autumn 2010

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