How many friends do you have? 1? 2? 6? 3000? Mark Zuckerberg (Jessie Eisenberg; Zombieland, The Squid and the Whale) hasn't got any. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook and if you don't know what Facebook is then you either don't use the internet (in which case you wouldn't be reading this) or you may think you're too old, or both. The Social Network, however, is not about Facebook, it's about the absolute power that one man can have and the empire that turns against him.
The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler (Armie Hammer; Reaper) have an idea for a dating website for Harvard students and believe Mark Zuckerberg is the only man that can help them achieve it. However Mark has ideas for his own website and nothing will stop him achieving his dream, so when the Facebook launches, the twins realise that they have a case to sue Mark for everything he has, but that's the least of his troubles.
Mark's best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield; The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Red Riding and the forthcoming Spider-Man movie), Mark's business partner and voice of reason is also suing him, and he also wants everything, and when you're fast becoming the world's youngest billionaire, everything is a lot. But is the price of genius worth more than the price of friendship?
Mark Zuckerberg (as portrayed in the movie) is a loner, an arrogant genius who thinks he's right all of the time and thinks because of his genius he is untouchable, and probably his biggest strength or fault is that he's right. Jessie Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as the anti-hero, a man who you would hate and probably want to punch in the face after a 10 minute conversation with him but at the same time you know he's right almost all of the time (after all we all know he's not broke and Facebook does still exist) and there are laugh out loud moments at his inept social skills which endear him to the audience. Eisenberg carries the film with charm and wit (thanks to Aaron Sorkin's superb script) and although Zuckerberg is all the things I mentioned before you're still rooting for him because after all, when you're right, you're right.
Andrew Garfield should get a special mention however, his role as the ever exhausted best friend to the world's newest genius is convincing and heartfelt. Even though you see Mark's side of the story, as it unfolds, and the audience probably sides with him more you can't help feel for Eduardo and the world he helped create, become pulled out like a rug from underneath him. No thanks to the charming and influential Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) the creator of Napster, in other words Mark Zuckerberg's idol. Timberlake discards his boy scout image (albeit briefly; see the forthcoming Yogi Bear movie) to play a womanising, drinking, smoking, drug taking, self proclaimed entrepreneur, it's hard to tell who comes out worse in this movie; Parker or Zuckerberg, each having their own distinctive faults but Timberlake takes to the role with ease and becomes just as uneasily likeable as the protagonist of the story.
The film is fast paced thanks to David Fincher's direction and of course Aaron Sorkin's script (The West Wing, A Few Good Men) so the audience does have to sit up and pay attention. It's worth it, however, as you get so involved in the story that you forget that this is a movie that revolves around a website.
David Fincher has wowed audiences since the early 90's and his varied movies (ranging from Alien 3 to Zodiac) have shown audiences his adept filmmaking abilities, making him a popular and bankable director amongst fans and critics alike. The Social Network is another notch on his belt for giving audiences engrossing and detailed stories that draw in an audience on a subject they would possibly not consider so interesting. Fincher's eye to detail is evident here, from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' striking digital age score to the coding the enables Mark to create websites so quickly and professionally. But even if you're not into technology and the internet you can find something in the story, everybody's lost close friends (or deleted them on Facebook) and made mistakes and that's why The Social Network is so relatable.
by Joel Fisher
by Joel Fisher
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