The Social Network
dir. David Fincher
Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella
***** out of *****
Facebook has become so ingrained in the consciousness of the human culture that virtually every single person and thing can be found among its pages. For many people Facebook spread to them by word of mouth when they first went to college- indeed, Facebook once boasted a college-only atmosphere. That soon grew to encompass high school, and before long Facebook exploded past the boundaries of any one institutional type and became a global phenomenon. There is an option on this very review to share it via Facebook (and please do, thank you). Yet one may ask... where did it all begin?
The answer is Harvard. The story unfolds in flashbacks, told as these characters are giving testimony in a number of lawsuits brought against Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg (portrayed ably here by Jesse Eisenberg- this is not the same nerdy kid from Zombieland). Zuckerberg is scheming, he is conniving, he is dark, brooding, and angry. Eisenberg’s performance is nothing short of spectacular and it is one of the many highlights in an excellent filmed penned by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, the genius who brought Fight Club to the screen. Numerous comparisons have been made to Citizen Kane, one of the greatest films of all time, and these comparisons hold considerable weight after a viewing of The Social Network. Both involve a larger-than-life character who reaches the top of the world but loses it all in the process- only to cling to something that really mattered before it all began and before it was all taken away. In this way Sorkin has done an admirable job of realizing exactly what worked in the script by Welles and Mankiewicz, but the themes are slightly more accessible to the modern viewer than are those of Kane (which is, for all of its amazing achievements, a very slow-moving film, something modern viewers typically shy away from). Fincher and Sorkin both have earned the comparisons to Orson Welles' masterpiece- one can hope they fare far better than it did on the awards circuit.
For a film about a social networking site, it is simply and primarily a film of two men- two best friends, Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin (a brilliant performance from the next Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield). As Facebook grows, so do the two men grow apart, with Zuckerberg’s humanity dwindling with each new subscriber to the site, and Saverin’s desperate attempt to bring his friend back from the brink. Zuckerberg’s Facebook seems to have its own characterization in the film, growing like wildfire and spreading as each character’s fate is pulled along the social giant’s path. Character is key here and both Sorkin and Fincher realize this, choosing to fully focus the efforts of the film on its characters. Justin Timberlake steals scenes as Napster founder Sean Parker, but this film hangs entirely on the performances of Eisenberg and Garfield, who deliver and do so in a major way (if Garfield does not get nominated for best supporting actor for this role, it will be a crime). Fans of richly-layered human drama and deeply realized characters need look no further for an astounding effort by all involved. The absolute richness of the film is tied completely to its ending, which will not be spoiled here, but it brings Zuckerberg’s entire character arc to a brilliant conclusion, and as one stares at the final shot of Zuckerberg, one cannot help but feel the madness, betrayal, anger, and greed that has wracked him since the moment the film opened finally crashing down around him.
Indeed, Facebook made Zuckerberg the world’s youngest billionaire- and the Facebook brand, while allowing all of us to be further interconnected, has de-socialized us, in a manner of speaking. The question left after the film ends, ultimately, is “what does he really have?”
Check out the film's offical site, find the movie on IMDB, and check out the reviews. Be sure to watch the trailer in the sidebar, which contains a haunting cover of Radiohead's "Creep" - and is the perfect song to describe the mood of the trailer and the film as a whole. Stay tuned to my blog for more movie reviews, as well as classic reviews, bad movie reviews, and trailer reviews/reviews anticipating films during the awards season. Request films to be reviewed at xexisproductions@hotmail.com. You can also check out other reviews (and other great content!) over at Black Entertainment USA.
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