My Rating:
To call The Social Network the movie that defines a generation would be doing it an injustice. The film is somewhat based on the true story of Mark Zuckerberg, and the drama that comes with creating the most popular website in human history. Also, to say that this movie is about Facebook would be incorrect. In this film, Facebook could easily be swapped with any other invention of the last few decades and would still have had a similar impact on my life. A film about Facebook would be something more like Catfish. The Social Network is a film about people, about their interactions, about betrayal, lust, isolation and the number one problem-causer in the world: money.
The main driving force behind this film is it's fantastic, fast-paced dialogue between some of the most interesting and witty characters in cinema. The constant banter back and forth kept me laughing and wanting to watch more, listen to each word, and hope it never ended. Writer Aaron Sorkin knows how to make characters (so well in fact, that he won the film it's first Oscar, for best adapted screenplay). The very first scene sets up the film; a whip-quick conversation between Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) and his girlfriend (Mara) introduces the viewer to a realization that this is no popcorn flick for the light-hearted. While watching, I tried to separate myself from trying to understand how accurate the film is, and just enjoy what I'm being presented with. I had to assume that Sorkin and director David Fincher took their liberties with the script, so I looked at The Social Network as, as ass-backwards as it is to say, a fictitious true story.
It's surprising to see such an impressive ensemble of a bunch of young actors (I'm a horrific actor myself, so I'm in some position to say that). Jesse Eisenberg was at his finest, Andrew Garfield (who I'd only seen in one other film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) was convincing as the nice guy who gets screwed over, Armie Hammer and his co-hort, Josh Pence had some of the best lines of the film, and Rooney Mara, Joseph Mazzello, and Justin Timberlake all rounded out the cast quite smoothly.
The music from the film instantly sets the tone, starting it's ominous score during the title sequence. It's a creepy style unlike anything I'd ever heard before, with a simple three-tone piano melody that I completely believe will become a recongnizable tone in the future, comparable to the scores from Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. It's no wonder Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won the Oscar for best original score from working on this picture.
The cinematography was nothing short of perfection; Fincher stayed true to his style, the likes of which can be seen in his earlier films: Fight Club, Panic Room, and Seven. It's not a happy film, and that can easily be seen in just the camera-work in any scene. Without a doubt, the most difficult and most under-appreciated aspect of any film, it's editing, was impressive considering how often sentences are cut off mid-word, yet their meanings are obtained without a problem. Thanks to editors Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Social Network was able to earn it's third Oscar.
David Fincher's latest is the modern Shakespearian tragedy. The idea of losing your friends to create the number one social networking website in the history of the internet becomes the ultimate irony for the film. The Social Network was flawless in every aspect; as long as you aren't burdened by thinking about how accurate the film is/isn't, you're in for a two hour long masterpiece.
Released: October 2010
Length: 2 hrs
Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: Aaron Sorkin (Screenplay), Ben Mezrich (Book)
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara
Rating: PG-13
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