Review by Loc
For even the folks born before of the 80s, Facebook represents another social network platform. It’s not The social network because those of us old enough to remember know that Friendster was there and MySpace was there after that. Yet, the significance of Facebook isn’t lost on us as it becomes as ubiquitous as the internet itself. For those working in the Silicon Valley the growth of Facebook faces a similar story, not the first booming business dedicated to the virtual world, but certainly one to take note of as the “youngsters” enter the working age. All told, the story of Facebook seems to be one of Hollywood lore. So why not embrace it and make a movie about it. Quick hit: more dramatically entertaining than one might expect.
Given the subject matter and today’s climate of “look at me” pop culture, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a dramatic retelling of college rogues hitting the big time is a fun ride. I’d venture a guess that you could make a compelling story about most billion-dollar babies, whether they were oil barons, industrial revolutionists, or computing dropouts. However, with the nature of the constantly evolving, ever-present dotcom boom, focusing on today’s robber barons seems both poignant and engaging in a strange way. It’s almost like watching epic biographies unfold literally before your eyes.
And so we see a young Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, mangle his way through Harvard in a series of awkward, sometimes nasty social exchanges, as he ironically builds the most social platform on the web. And like so many of history’s massive successes, Zuckerberg encounters strife, luck, opportunity, and blessed outcomes to achieve his position on that mythical pedestal. This isn’t necessarily an uplifting tale as Facebook was mired in lawsuits and claims of intellectual theft from the start. This isn’t an inspirational story about working hard as the immense technological feat plays in the background of the more intriguing personal battles. It’s not even a straight-forward presentation of good versus evil, as no one escapes the grayscale portraits so often encountered in life. No, this is a grab bag of characters traversing an uncharted landscape and finally landing at a destination, both unknown and unplanned for by all aboard the ship. Such is life.
The script was penned by Aaron Sorkin, he of The West Wing fame. Sorkin’s wordsmithing prowess is on full display from the first scene where we see young Zuckerberg chew the dialogue with his girlfriend. With some of Sorkin’s work, the words can get heavy handed and they can actually distract you as they zip and whiz by at breakneck speeds. With this film, the tone seems right, and characters are brought to a gritty reality through their lines. David Fincher, he of Se7en fame, directed this film and does a very good job of jumping between intertwining story threads and mashing up in a series of flashbacks. Everything is easy to follow and that makes the story simply engaging.
Jesse Eisenberg plays the titular character, and while he’s been referred to as a poor man’s Michael Cera, he at least establishes his own presence in this film. Still playing the socially awkward, quick-jabbering nerd geek, the role calls on all of his strengths and lets him shine as never-quite-comfortable and always-slightly-jealous Zuckerberg.
The rest of the young cast is good, with Andrew Garfield delivering a good performance as the in-over-his-head business partner and Justin Timberlake playing the semi-scheming mentor in the second half of the movie. In a sense, Timberlake playing the all too young mentor to wide-eyed kids makes perfect sense given his early boy band success and transition to solo uber star. Good performances all around.
Overall, The Social Network is an entertaining drama. Will folks outside of the immersive online world be as enthralled? Probably, because this is good storytelling. More accurately, how many folks would really qualify as outside of the internet given that Facebook itself boast 500 million users today? In a sense, this movie will speak to everyone because everyone is invested in their own online presence. Out of 500 million users, The Social Network pokes 350 million.
Rated: 7/10
