Review of The Social Network (2010) by Christopher P — 11 Jun 2013

The Unfriended...

Most audiences will see "The Social Network" as a vivid portrayal of the rise of the Facebook empire. For twenty-somethings, it can be seen as a twisted fairy tale depicting the highs and lows of personal ambition and success. The film takes yoi on a journey through a world of future leaders and innovators, one where your status means everything and loyalty means nothing.

It takes a certain type of personality to become a huge success. Most successful people are highly intelligent and talented, but are often obsessively driven to prove someone wrong. If your Mark Zuckerberg for example, you want to show up your college crush who put you in your place during a dinner date. It's nice to see a biopic that willingly projects its protagonist in a negative light, Zukerberg is an ass-whole and there's no getting around it. In fact, he would almost have to be; who else would build a billion dollar business to exploit people's vanity and biological need for attention? The original idea for Facebook even had sinister undertones itself; it was intended to rate whether a woman you knew was hot or not.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as honestly as the script allows him to. The film paints an ugly portrait of Zuckerberg, who is equal parts God and monster. He's a genius, a kid who probably doesn't need a Harvard education, but is studying there only to have it on his list of accomplishments. Like Eisenberg, he is neurotic and possess a mouth that moves at 100 mph--Zuckerberg isn't a afraid to speak his mind and has few, which would suggest he has sociopath-like tendencies.

Zuckerberg's best friend and fellow Facebook founder, Eduardo Saverin, is played by Andrew Garfield who gives a wonderful scene stealing performance. He is a kid with money and business savvy who helps brings Zuckerberg's website to the masses. He is kind and seemingly in awe of Zuckerberg, mirroring a relationship similar to literature characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Saverin is the only morally good character in this story about cutthroat competition. Unfortunately, we all know what happens to nice guys.

Zuckerberg and Saverin put a lot of hard-work into Facebook, but get many core ideas from The Winklevoss twins and a colleague of theirs. Together, they form a partnership to get Facebook to expand. Zuckerberg, however, has different plans and quickly begins playing things close to the chest. He expands the site on his own, and becomes a God in his newly created universe. He gets all the credit, accolades, and praise for an idea that was never completely his. The twins and their colleague get the idea to sue.

The film is told out of order, often flashing back to crucial moments in the development of Facebook and other key moments that explain why Zuckerberg threw people under the bus. He is all but seduced by Sean Parker, the creator of Napster, played effectively by Justin Timberlake. Parker convinces him to expand not only his site, but his status among the public. He inflates Zuckerberg's ego to dangerous levels, leading him to become the monster he always sought to be. Zuckerberg throws his soul and friendships away, and ends up losing sight of why he created Facebook in the first place. By the films end, he is alone, distant, and bitter.

"The Social Network" is an ambitious film, one not afraid to show the many faults of its brilliant protagonist. It has its own visual style and mood, and I give kudos to Director David Fincher, who seemed to know what he was doing with every frame of film. The film is wonderfully acted and brilliantly written. However, lacks a firm resolution to Zuckerberg's story and leaves us in a state of ambiguity. The film could have focused more on how intelligent kids build a successful business, instead of to wading through an overwhelming amount of human drama.

I highly recommend this film for all audiences, especially college bound teens and young adults.

Grade: B.