Let me begin by saying David Fincher's The Social Network, is thus far my favorite film of 2010, granted I've only seen five flicks this year. Now it may come as a surprise that the story of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook should be told by the director of such gruesomely violent films as Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac. But as it turns out, the film is no less vicious.See back in 2004, Harvard computer nerd Mark Zuckerberg, with some help from his "friends", launched a fun little website called The Facebook (you might have heard of it), which allowed people to make online profiles and keep tabs on others. To everyone's surprise, it eventually exploded into a multibillion dollar enterprise and cultural phenomenon that continues to transform the modern landscape of social interaction. The Social Network shows how all this came to pass. The suspense of the film comes from watching the creators battling to ride the technological tidal wave to fame and fortune, resulting in lawsuits, arrests, and friendships rent asunder.
The movie is surprisingly good for a number of reasons, probably the most important of which is the script. Virtually every scene in this movie is constructed with a conflict, the result of which drives the setup for the next scene. There is no lag in this movie, every conversation, every action has a purpose. Also the dialogue is fast and sharp, with some good lines like "You better lawyer up, asshole" or "Dating you is like dating a stairmaster" or "My Prada is at the cleaners, along with my hoodie and my 'fuck you' flip-flops."
There are also many interesting characters and themes in this movie. Zuckerberg is portrayed as a genius computer geek with Asperger syndome-like social skills. That such an awkward person could create a website designed to allow friends to socialize online seems bewildering, but in fact makes perfect sense when you compare computer message posting to actual face-to-face conversation. His counterpart, Sean Parker, is a flamboyant technological visionary played by Justin Timberlake. Parker captures the spirit of Silicon Valley, California creation and he invigorates the narrative upon his entry halfway into the film. Parker is a foil to the Winklevoss twins, two wealthy Harvard students with the weakest of ties to Facebook's creation who strive bitterly to mooch off the website's success.
There is plenty more to write about, suffice it to say that The Social Network is a timely, thought-provoking film actually worth the now ridiculous price of theatre admission. It's one of those movies that you leave discussing with friends, maybe on Facebook. Whoa.
