Review of The Social Network (2010) by Clorenz — 06 Sep 2020

David Fincher's "The Social Network" is a film that plunges you right into your own self-consciousness without you even realizing it. The film is a technical masterpiece on every level and is so rewatchable that it delightfully seizes your attention from the moment the first scene comes into focus.

The "Social Network" is a movie that thrives on the beauty of each scene and how they are masterfully edited together to provide a piece of art that fits together like it's the world's most satisfying puzzle.

The movie begins with a simple scene between Mark Zuckeberg, played masterfully by Jesse Eisenberg, and his fictional girlfriend Erica Albright, played by Rooney Mara. The beauty of this scene is how naturally it sets the tone for the movie, the motives of the main character, and how the music score is attention demanding as it is in every scene in this movie.

This scene shows us that Mark is a man that desires social respect from people over anything else. The opening bar scene between him and Erica displays how he thinks intellectual achievements should lead him to all what he thinks will bring him a most fulfilling life: fame and success.

The "Social Network" shows how this ideology can lead to us losing our closest friends in the vast and complicated web that the social experience can be. The movie gets its heart from the character Eduardo Savron played by Andrew Garfield.

Garfield's emotional portrayal of this character is so gripping and relatable that it now seems like a crime that his performance was not met with an Academy Award for best Supporting Actor. The back and forth dialogue between Eduardo and Mark are some of the best parts of the movie.

These scenes not only show the brilliance of the screenplay written by Aaron Sorkin, but also the Oscar level performances given by Eisenberg and Garfield. The performances in this movie don't stop there, though, since both Hammer and Timberlake give very solid performances as the Winklevoss twins and Sean Parker respectively.

The Winklevoss twins symbolize the privilege and status the Mark wishes he had while Sean Parker symbolizes the attitude that Mark believes he needs to have to get there. These characters are pivotal to developing Mark's journey for why and how he soon becomes the youngest billionaire in the world.

What makes the "Social Network" truly special is how it takes such a simple story and turns it into must watch cinema. The score is consistently blood pumping and masterful throughout the entire movie.

This fast paced score, combined with the rapid editing and dialogue take a simple story and make it a heart pumping story of the societal pressures of being "cool". "The Social Network" is David Fincher's first masterpiece and it relies on his direction.

The direction he takes with this story combined with the master class technical aspects make this movie one of the best pieces of cinema the 21st century has seen.