Review: THE SOCIAL NETWORK

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

A few months ago the release of this film’s trailer elicited a few snickers from movie fans. They’re doing a feature film on Facebook?  Then the word came out that this had a script by Aaron Sorkin (A FEW GOOD MEN) and was directed by David Fincher (ZODIAC). The chuckles ended and movie fans were curious. Finally filmgoers can satisfy their curiosity and experience one of this year’s best  motion pictures.

The film begins in the Fall of 2003 where Mark Zuckerberg is having a beer with his girlfriend at pub frequented by college students. Mark vents his frustration at the different final clubs at Harvard in a terrifically written scene and ends up insulting his companion. She dumps him and storms out . Mark runs back to his room in order to slam her on his blog. After downing a few beers he decides to hack into several websites (with the help of his best pal, Eduardo Saverin) and set up a new site, Face smash, which lets viewers rate the hotter of two different co-eds. The overwhelming popularity of the site causes the school’s servers to crash and Mark is called on the carpet by school officials, thus giving him a rep as the go-to webmaster. Mark is soon approached by the Winklevoss twins ( two exclusive campus club members also heading the rowing team) to help them set up a Harvard student dating website. After promising to work on it, Mark asks Eduardo to bankroll his idea to set  up his own school social network site. Soon the site expands to several other colleges while Mark and Eduardo start to become big men on campus. On a trip to LA seeking funds to expand the site they meet Sean Parker of Napster fame. Sean captivates Mark by telling him off the big financial possibilities of his site, while Eduardo is a bit more skeptical. Meanwhile the twins hear of Mark’s success after having finally been brushed by him about their dating site plans. Eventually Mark moves to the West Coast to expand the site with Sean while Eduardo goes to NYC to get more sponsors. Soon  Eduardo and Mark clash over the business. The film intercuts between the two deposition hearings brought on by Eduardo and the Winklevoss twins( with Divya Narendra) against Mark.

Every aspect of this film is excellent. Fincher has assembled a top flight cast. In a neat bit of technical wizardry Armie Hammer plays the Winklevoss twins (Armie’s head was digitally grafted on to actor Josh Pence’s body in most scenes) and really conveys their frustration . NEVER LET ME GO’s Andrew Garfield makes Saverin a great tragic figure and is very strong in his big confrontation scenes at Facebook HQ. I look forward to seeing his take on Spider-Man is in the  upcoming  film series reboot. Pop star Justin Timberlake continues to surprise with perhaps his best film performance yet as the charismatic Parker. He has really expanded on the acting skills that he first displayed hosting SNL. The real stand out is Jesse Eisenberg’s surprisingly powerful performance as Zuckerberg. At times arrogant, other times vulnerable, Eisenberg helps make Mark one of the more complex movie characters ever. I was first aware of Jesse thru his great work as the oldest son in THE SQUID AND THE WHALE,  and enjoyed his comic turns in AVENTURELAND and ZOMBIELAND, but then was concerned that he’d become stuck in the earnest, nerdy guy rut. Some friends of mine even confused him with Michael Cera. Eisenberg breaks free of that teen geek mold with this work. It helps that he’s been given the fantastic dialogue of Aaron Sorkin adapting  Ben Mezrich’s book THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES. The lines between Mark and Erica in the opening sequence crackle and make it the best “worst” date scene ever. Of course all of Sorkin’s great work would be for naught without a great director at the wheel. After making his name as an exceptionally gifted visual director of thrillers (SE7EN, FIGHT CLUB), David Fincher shows that he can make a compelling down-to earth very human story and get great work from this young group of actors. THE SOCIAL NETWORK raises many questions about ethics, loyalty, and responsibility and gives moviegoers a lot to think about after leaving the theater. It addresses a subject unique to the new century and while some fads may be forgotten, THE SOCIAL NETWORK will be long remembered as a great piece of cinema.

MY RATING : Five out of Five Stars