The Social Network (2010)

The Social Network

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara & Rashida Jones

Released: 2010

Country of Origin: USA

Runtime: 120 min.

There are few things I can think of that have had as much social and cultural importance in the last decade as Facebook. I can think of only one person I know personally that isn't plugged into the giant social network. Despite the fact I made it through 22 years of life without any form of social networking, Facebook has wormed its way into my own life so deeply I can't imagine what it would be like without it. The closest comparison for me is the popularization of cell phones, throughout high school the only way my friends and I could connect was the old fashioned land-line but now I have a mild panic attack if I forget my phone when I leave the house. It would be scary/kinda hilarious to see what would happen if Facebook crashed and never came back, what would people do? It would be complete social meltdown. As awesome as watching people's digital lives disappearing would be, there is a part of me that would be freaking out along with the rest. No one denies the impact the website has had, but I never once thought a film about its creation would be as awesome as David Fincher's The Social Network is.

The Social Network starts with one of the best opening/breakup scenes ever. Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg sits in a pub with his girlfriend and proceeds to piss her off so much she breaks up with him, walks out, and calls him an asshole. A movie with such a uninteresting premise needed an opening this strong. While it sets every whirlwind moment that follows in motion, it also provides a cinematic hook that pierces through the soft flesh of your cheek and reels you along for the next two hours. The rest of the film follows Zuckerberg as he creates Facebook after pissing off the entire female population at Harvard by creating a "hot or not" style website. He's a nerd with tunnel vision and as the project consumes his life, he proceeds to piss off his friends, screw over his business partners, and generally act anti-social and disagreeable.

The dramatization of the events have had a little backlash with this film. Some have had a hard time getting into the film based purely on the discrepancies it has with the actual story. Even the opening is an entirely fictional event and the girl that breaks up with him, played by Rooney Mara never existed. I am a tad notorious in my inability to enjoy films based on novels I've read when they deviate from their source, but I'd argue that with The Social Network it doesn't really matter what happened. I knew going into it that it was at least partially fictionalized and it didn't affect my viewing experience at all. I really liked how the film was set up, working within the framework of Zuckerberg's legal disputes and coloring the events almost as flashbacks to move the story along. I'm not sure this was something intentional or an angle I made up on my own, but I think it provides a bit of an out for the film makers in terms of factuality. Like all legal proceedings, testimony has to be weighed with the possibility that everyone involved will view certain events in a different light and color them with their own feelings and viewpoints.

The biggest things that The Social Network has going for it are the script and the performances. Aaron Sorkin's script is incredible, it's razor sharp and manages to makes computer programing, something that is only fully understood by certain people, easy to comprehend and follow along with. It's one of the more intelligent scripts I've seen this year, it never treats the audience as idiots but manages to be smart and accessible at the same time. Excellent scripting is fine but without a cast that can take the written words and deliver them with perfection, a script is about as useful as something that is not very useful (clearly my wit is completely intact tonight). Jesse Eisenberg has a bit of niche, every film I've seen him in he has played someone either so intelligent he can't relate to people or someone trying to be so intelligent that he comes off pretentious and thus can't relate to people. While he's running the risk of being forever typecast as a socially inept nerd, with this film he takes what he's already good at and blows any of his past performances out of the water. His timing and delivery of each line is perfect and I will be very surprised if he's not nominated this year for best actor. Actually, the whole cast is top-notch, even that girl from Disney's The Suite Life With Zack & Cody (yes I know her name, but I'm refusing to refer to her as anything but "that girl from Disney's The Suite Life With Zack & Cody) but the biggest surprise is Justin Timberlake. He's a genuine scene stealer and I would fully support a nod for best supporting actor at the Oscar's this year. He is so good that you completely forget that he's Justin "Cry Me A River" Timberlake, which for someone as high profile as he is, is no small accomplishment. These last few sentences are ones I never thought I'd ever write, much like last year when I was raving about Mariah Carey's performance in Precious. I was also really impressed with what limited screen-time Rooney Mara had, it makes me a little less nervous about her role as Lisbeth Salander in the American adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which will be David Fincher's next project as director after The Social Network.

FINAL VERDICT: I think this is a film that just about anyone can get into. It's got an awesome script, great director, great cast, and a very impressive soundtrack by Nail Inch Nail's Trent Reznor. It also avoids one of the pitfalls in films like this, no moral is entwined into the end where it doesn't need one. If they would have gone that route, it would have cheapened the experience and probably left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I would recommend that you go see this before its leaves theaters, which if you're in Billings that means you have to go tonight, so... good luck. I know a lot of people seem to get kinda hyper-critical of films that are as critically praised as this film has been. I see that happen often and I don't understand it at all. I'm not sure if it's a general resentment that these people are somehow trying to tell you what to watch or a bit of hurt feelings when a critic tears a film apart that you love. I like and appreciate critics, I have my favorites whose taste I understand and relate to. I don't always agree but I usually understand why they viewed something the way they did. Usually, films that are as good as The Social Network get high amounts of praise, so don't let any prejudice on critically praised films discourage you from seeing it, that reasoning would just be stupid. Great films are great for a reason, because they're great. (And that may have been one of the dumbest sentences I have ever written.)