The Social Network Review

 There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: A story about the founders of the social-networking website, Facebook.


THE GOOD: Dialogue. Aaron Sorkin is the scribe for The Social Network and boy does he write some solid dialogue. The characters speak at 100 miles per hour and it's often times very witty. Think Ocean's Eleven witty, but more authentic. Sorkin has brought us screenplays for A Few Good Men, The American President, and Charlie Wilson's War along with the Emmy-winning television series, The West Wing. I would not be surprised to see him nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay here.

Directing. I'll admit to being very skeptical about a Facebook movie when I had first heard about. However, as soon as I found out that David Fincher was involved, my ears perked up and I started to follow this film with great interest. You should not be a stranger to his work as he's directed Fight Club, Se7en, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Fincher clearly has a solid vision on all of his films and he does not let up at all with The Social Network. In a way, the film feels very much like some of the characters in the movie. Roger Ebert points out, "It is cocksure, impatient, cold, exciting and instinctively perceptive." Fincher is currently filming the new version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and if there are a few directors to trust with the project, Fincher is certainly one of them.

Acting. Damn fine acting, all around. Some of the best of the year. Jesse Eisenberg's role of a lifetime as Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. Andrew Garfield was easily my favorite as co-founder Eduardo Saverin. He's really making a name for himself in movies. He's also in this year's Never Let Me Go, which I really want to see, and earlier this year, he was announced to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Mark Webb's reboot of the franchise. Also want to throw mad props to Armie Hammer who plays the Winklevoss twins, but only does the voice for Cameron. One of the best uses of a single actor playing twins. Would love to see nominations for any of these guys.

Cinematography. While most of the cinematography is nothing to write home about since this is a very dialogue-heavy movie, there are a few scenes that are extremely well-done. The scene with the Winklevoss twins rowing against the Dutch team on the Henley Royal Regatta with "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is a fascinating sequence. Tilt-shift camerawork was used and gave the whole regatta this awesome miniature effect at the beginning. Then there was the use of putting the camera stationary on the boats and watching the characters heads move in and out of focus as they row. Everything about this part was capturing for me. Also loved the subtle movements through rooms and especially the camera going through the window at the 1 million users party. Little throwback to Panic Room, Mr. Fincher?

Original music. Trent Reznor. Atticus Ross. 'Nuff said.


THE BAD: Story. Let me start off by saying that this movie is a work of fiction. Aside from the main facts, everything else like the drama and character development are all fake. Aaron Sorkin even admits, "I don’t want my fidelity to be to the truth; I want it to be to storytelling." The movies claims Zuckerberg has no friends, but how can someone with no friends understand them so well? Sorkin once again claims, "I don’t believe that [Facebook] has brought us closer together. I think it’s pushed us farther apart." I wholeheartedly disagree. I made friends all over the world in the military and I know I would not still be in touch with some of them were it not for Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or some other social website. Anyway, there seems to be a bias, or jealousy, or an envy on Sorkin's part when he wrote this script. Great script, but wrong intentions and direction. Mark Zuckerberg's story is fascinating to me. He is somewhat of a personal hero along with Bill Gates and a couple others who have not only used technology to become successful, but are 100% genuinely smart. Like, geniuses. For me, this should not be a story about Facebook, which I feel like it is. Facebook's story is boring. It's shallow. How many times have we heard or seen something about a company growing large and having a suit filed against them by a disgruntled former partner, founder, etc.? I think we all know what happens because we're used to seeing this. That's not what's interesting to me. What's interesting to me is how did he learn coding? What are his likes and dislikes? What is his family like? What did he actually accomplish? What motivated him? The answer to the last question is touched upon, but only barely. It's not money, but that he wanted to fit in. I got it. Great. But what drove him to want to fit in? Why be in all these exclusive clubs? How come it's Zuckerberg that created Facebook and not Eduardo? There's a little bit of contradiction in the film's main character in how he wants to be invited to all these private clubs, and how Facebook starts out that way, yet he eventually turns it into something that connects the entire world. There goes his need for exclusivity. As you can tell, I've given the technology aspect a lot of thought since I'm practically surrounded by it day in and day out. I guess my point is that I want more focus on Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes' lives. The movie only covers the point of time from when Facebook was conceived to not even the point of settlement. That's all but, what... two, maybe three years? I don't know why I should be so shocked to see Hollywood take a good story and turn it into something else. Look at what they did for last year's Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker. Inaccuracies was my only complaint, but at least it was capturing because it used the most interesting parts of war. Look, paint Zuckerberg as a good guy or a bad guy. I don't care. You have to show the reason he is 26 years old and worth nearly $7 billion, and it started way before he ever thought of Facebook. I think this could have easily been a better movie.

THE END: The Social Network is one of those movies where I love all of the technical aspects of the film, but the story itself I don't find very entertaining. My friend Joel sees this winning Best Picture at the Oscars and I can definitely see it being a major contender in many categories. Like I said, it's very well-made and I can appreciate the film in that sense, but the story could have been better. I say watch this as soon as you can if you want to stay current with the better films of the year, but if you typically like to avoid the cinematic experience, waiting to rent this one won't hurt you.


DISCUSS: What did you think of The Social Network? How did you like the directing, writing, and acting? Do you think The Social Network could have been a much better movie? Why do you think Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook?