The Social Network* (2010)

What is the price of being a genius? To me, this is a central theme of 2010’s most talked-about film. This theoretical cost of intelligence is different for each person. For some it is financial. For others, it is relational. Others still cash it in for power. Occasionally, as happens in The Social Network, all three collide to form a train wreck that is fatiguing to watch but too interesting to turn away from.

After getting dumped by his girlfriend, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) gets himself good and drunk and retaliates by posting viscous blog entries about her. That same night, he hacks into many of Harvard University’s student databases to create a website where Harvard students can select who they believe is the hotter of two female students displayed on the screen. This little stunt explodes in popularity overnight, crashes the Harvard network and earns him six months academic probation. It also attracts the attention of the wealthy Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer). They approach Zuckerberg and recruit him to help code a Harvard-only dating website they have devised.

The membership exclusivity of the Winlkevi site resonates with Zuckerberg’s longing for an invite to one of Harvard’s ultra-exclusive final clubs. This plants a seed for a different kind of website in his mind, a seed that he fully intends to cultivate behind the backs of the Winklevi. With his friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) funding the project, Zuckerberg embarks on a history-making venture that sees him crossing paths with some of the wealthiest and most powerful investors in the nation. The end result is Facebook- an international sensation that becomes a financial success and a legal nightmare.

Virtually everyone knows about Facebook. It’s current, it’s hip, and the younger generations cannot comprehend why anyone isn’t or wouldn’t want to be on it. That being said, most of Facebook’s 700+ million users have, at one time or another, complained about its ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ approach to site changes and upgrades. This love-hate relationship, along with society’s bizarre (and, frankly, dangerous) tendency to envy and despise successful people, allows the filmmakers to produce something that is not for the Facebook faithful. Rather, it is geared more toward those who are looking for further reasons to hate on Mark Zuckerberg and his empire.

As a champion of proper context, it should be noted that this film is a highly sensationalized account of Facebook’s founding. It is based off the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, who set out to write the most interesting Facebook story possible, not the most accurate. No current Facebook employees were consulted during the writing of the book or the making of the movie, so you have to take this film with a huge grain of salt. That does not mean that you cannot enjoy watching it.

The smartest thing this film does is avoid a standard linear narrative. Instead, the narrative is broken into segments covering key points leading up to Facebook’s launch, success, and the lawsuits filed by the Winklevoss brothers and Saverin afterwards. Rather than simply saying ‘here’s the story of Facebook,’ we watch as Zuckerberg is forced to relive his dealings with the Winklevi and his former friend/business partner. Old wounds tear open during these proceedings, sending us back and forth through time. In this way, the audience gets the chance to judge this fictional Zuckerberg as he reckons with his own personal failings. The editing and cinematography during these segues and jump cuts are a real treat for the trained eye.

Jesse Eisenberg does a tremendous job as the unrepentant Zuckerberg. He talks, acts and sneers exactly like someone capable of programming a complicated website while drunk. The matter-of-factness in his delivery does the real Zuckerberg some justice. This is not the story of some average punk kid who gets extraordinarily lucky. The Social Network is a tale of a mind-bogglingly brilliant individual who gets extraordinarily lucky.

Eisenberg’s performance is backed up by a solid supporting cast. With a little help from the visual effects department, Armie Hammer does a splendid job portraying the entitlement-high Winklevoss brothers. Their smug and pompous demeanor is even less tolerable than Zuckerberg’s. Justin Timberlake will surprise many with his performance as Napster founder Sean Parker. He’s the perfect shoulder devil for the new millennium. Finally there is Andrew Garfield, who comes off as a natural with his frustration, anxiety and hurt. Eduardo Saverin is the only character worth any genuine sympathy in the film but director David Fincher deserves credit for not letting Garfield make the character too tragic. This is a story about a few children of privilege going to battle against each other, after all.

Is this fictional Zuckerberg an arrogant creep who knows he’s smart and is unafraid to mock you with his intelligence by waving it in your face? Could he rather be an exceptionally skilled young man who was led astray by paranoid and greedy business associates? The filmmakers certainly seem bent on leading you toward the former assumption but the film contains enough of a gray area for you to make your own decision on the matter.

The Social Network is a very well put-together film. The acting is splendid, the writing is crisp and appealing to modern audiences, and the pacing is just right. There are a few odd decisions made with camera focus here and there but the rest of it seems to fit. It’s always difficult to judge a contemporary film on its costuming and set design because you only take notice of it if they get something wrong. Time will be the judge of that aspect of the film and the entire film itself really. This film answers the question ‘is it too soon for a Facebook movie?’ Definitely not. The question now becomes ‘will this movie matter in 20 years?’ If Facebook continues to be a staple of our daily lives, the answer will be yes. If not, this film will become little more than a stylish footnote on yet another passing trend.

RATING: 3.75 out of 5