Written by: PBF
Yes, I actually checked my Facebook while waiting for this movie to start. I also have a tab open in my browser right now where I am signed in to it.
The Social Network tells the story of Facebook, from it’s drunken conception in a dorm room, to a billion dollar operation. Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) gets dumped by his girlfriend and goes back to his Harvard dorm to drink and blog angrily. He suddenly comes up with the idea create a webpage where pictures of 2 female students are posted side by side, and users can click which one is hotter. As he is creating the page with the help of two friends, he blogs his progress. This project involves Zuckerberg hacking in to various residence hall databases in order to download pictures of students. He creates the page in one night and calls it Face Mash, then sends the link to as many people as he can. It becomes insanely popular, however, it lands Zuckerberg in to trouble and he is placed on six months of academic probation. Zuckerberg’s antics gain the attention of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (twins) and Divya Narenda. They hope to make a social networking site of sorts and would like Zuckerberg to program it. Later, Zuckerberg tells his friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) that he wants to make a site where Harvard students can log in and see what their friends are doing. Based on the idea of exclusivity (something that Zuckerberg has a fondness for), you would only be allowed to see who allows you to see it. The user grants permission for access to their info (sound familiar yet?). You must have a Harvard email address to register. Eduardo likes the idea and is quick to fund it. The idea is called “The Facebook.” Zuckerberg creates this while ignoring requests (!) from the Winklevosses to meet and discuss their site. The site goes live and becomes insanely popular as well, thus pissing off the Winklevosses, who claim that their idea was stolen (the movie is told via flashback during hearings). As the site expands and becomes more popular, he gets an order to cease and desist and ultimately gets sued. Obviously, the word “the” is dropped, and the site is then called Facebook, and becomes something that is part of 500 million people’s everyday lives and spawned various phrases such as “friend request” and “status update.”
The film opens with Aaron Sorkin’s signature rapid fire dialogue, which combined with the hyperintelligence of the characters kind of concerned me a bit, as I feared I may not understand all the technical jargon that may be hurled at me with relentless force, but that was not an issue. The script was very well written, sharp and funny. David Fincher, whittling the film down just right at two hours, much like Chris Nolan, manages to keep my interest the entire time, without that restless, “is this thing over yet” feeling that usually creeps in at 100 minutes of most films. Although, with 500 million Facebook users, I imagine it would be hard to find someone who would not find the subject matter interesting. Everyone in the film gave strong performances, including Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, the guy who co founded Napster, and suggested dropping the “the” and put the idea in Zuckerberg’s head to have “I’m the CEO, bitch” on his business cards. We learn through just a small bit of end of film exposition that he still owns 7% of Facebook (he was the president; he was forced to leave the company after an arrest for cocaine possession).
I was especially pleased with Eisenberg’s performance. If you are one of those people that are constantly drawing comparisons between him and Michael Cera, this film will break that pattern. Eisenberg shows that he actually differentiates his characters. While Cera is entertaining and funny, he is basically the same in each role. Eisenberg is excellent as he becomes drunk on popularity, the greed consuming him with each dent to his pride. The film would have you believe that he built Facebook out of revenge from being dumped or his jealousy of Eduardo getting accepted to a Final Club, which the real Zuckerberg denies. Whether or not that is true, it makes for good story.
One of the most fascinating things is watching the formation of ideas for things on Facebook like the “relationship status.” For someone like myself, co operator of a rather rudimentary website that was born of random brainstorming, it is inspiring that a simple idea can go so far (of course, I am not a Harvard student). Also, think about Facebook. A link for this review will be on it. Everyone I come in contact with has a Facebook account. Some people are so addicted to it that they update their status with, “I just updated my Facebook status.” Some people use it as some sort of representation of their hidden genius and carefully construct cryptic and vague status updates designed to make their “friends” marvel at their brilliance not otherwise conveyed in real life. It is a part of life as much as eating is, and watching a dramatization of it’s flourish is almost mesmerizing.
As far as historical accuracy, I was advised (by someone who wrote a research paper on the subject) that it well adhered to the facts, with the exception of how quickly Face Mash was shut down in the film. Obviously, only those involved can comment on things like motives, and intellectual property theft, and how accurately those things were portrayed.
It’s pretty hard not to like this film. Superb cast, excellent pairing of writer and director and a subject that will appeal to most anyone. On the surface, a story about Facebook. A little deeper, a story about betrayal, greed, ethics and popularity. After watching the film I realized that I was given no back story about any person in the film. We were just planted right at the (supposed) event that sparked the idea that would eventually become Facebook. It really didn’t matter. I was still able to relate to Zuckeberg’s drive and even feel sorry for him at times. I also was able to agree with Marylin Delpy (Rashida Jones) when she tells him that he is not an asshole, but is trying hard to be one. Garfield’s performance as Eduardo commanded that I hate Zuckerberg for what he did, even though I wanted to like him the whole time, and I must admit, part of me did hate him. Not very often is it that I not only connect, but vary my opinion of a character without being provided a back story, but only the depiction of a small part of their life.
The Social Network is a fast paced 2 hours, and a very slick film. Very much recommended.
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