By Yesterday my friend asked me a very simple question.
“How would you feel if I deleted my Facebook page?”
Without warning, this suggestion began to frustrate me. What is he trying to prove by deleting his account? Doesn’t he understand that it’s an important communication tool? We’re all on it. Does he think he’s
better
than us?
We’re
all supposed to be in this together. It’s an almost childish attempt at defiance.
Ruminating over this conversation later in the day, I realized that my response was overblown, paranoid, and much more indicative of my own hang-ups than his. In other words, I found myself reacting exactly like Mark Zuckerberg.
As
The Social Network
makes clear, many of the building blocks of the ubiquitous online destination came directly from its co-founder’s neuroses, his nervous, desperate sweat essentially laced into its code. This is what made Facebook so addicting, and what makes Jesse Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg such a fantastic character. To simply call him a “jerk” is overly simplistic. His weaknesses reflect our own, even if it’s hard to admit. I’m not saying that I want to be friends with the guy, or that I see him as a soul-mate, I’m just
…
Yesterday my friend asked me a very simple question.
"How would you feel if I deleted my Facebook page?"
Without warning, this suggestion began to frustrate me. What is he trying to prove by deleting his account? Doesn't he understand that it's an important communication tool? We're all on it. Does he think he's better than us? We're all supposed to be in this together. It's an almost childish attempt at defiance.
Ruminating over this conversation later in the day, I realized that my response was overblown, paranoid, and much more indicative of my own hang-ups than his. In other words, I found myself reacting exactly like Mark Zuckerberg.
As The Social Network makes clear, many of the building blocks of the ubiquitous online destination came directly from its co-founder's neuroses, his nervous, desperate sweat essentially laced into its code. This is what made Facebook so addicting, and what makes Jesse Eisenberg's Zuckerberg such a fantastic character. To simply call him a "jerk" is overly simplistic. His weaknesses reflect our own, even if it's hard to admit. I'm not saying that I want to be friends with the guy, or that I see him as a soul-mate, I'm just noting that he is relatable. Some viewers don't want to relate with a character who isn't particularly likable, but doing so absolutely makes viewing this film a richer experience.
Jesse Eisenberg indeed does a terrific job, hopefully forever shedding the foolish Michael Cera association some have put on him, and the rest of the cast turns in great work as well. Andrew Garfield (who seems to be in every film that's come out this year) makes for an extremely empathetic Eduardo Saverin, and Rooney Mara's portrayal of Zuckerberg's anti-muse will likely turn out to be her star-making role. Stealing every scene, though, is Armie Hammer as the meatheaded but lovable Winklevoss twins, the poor saps that our protagonist stole/didn't steal the idea of Facebook from.
Aaron Sorkin's dialogue is as snappy (and abundant) as ever, and Fincher wisely opted to dial down his trademark stylistic flourishes to match. The two are an unlikely combination that works out wonderfully, like dipping a mozzarella stick into sour cream. The film's cinematography (shot on RED) looks gorgeous, a rarity in this age of overly-tinted high contrast digital garbage. As he demonstrated previously with Zodiac (and even the sub-par Benjamin Button), the guy really knows how to make digital sing.
Special acknowledgements are in order for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, whose droning, glitchy score is one of the most distinctive elements of the film. Comparable to Jon Brion's amazing work on Punch-Drunk Love, the score does as much to serve the mood of the film as any other element. The constant tension it creates also serves the pacing, creating (in conjunction with some amazingly sharp editing choices) one of the shortest-feeling two hour films I've seen. And Fincher, if you're reading this: thank you so much for keeping it relatively brief for once. It was very kind of you.
For me, the main thing preventing The Social Network from being the transcendent summation of a generation it's been billed to be is its emotional coldness. It's easy to relate to and empathize with these characters thanks to stellar performances and great writing, but I never found myself with much personal stake in the events unfolding in front of me. What we have is a film very interested in showing these characters and analyzing their actions, but not so concerned with making the viewer feel one way or the other. The upside is that this adds a sense of moral ambiguity (the right and wrong of Zuckerberg's choices are wisely left to the individual viewer), but it also unfortunately means that there is little reason to have any emotional connection to the goings-on. In any case, this is an extremely minor problem and I can recommend The Social Network to virtually anyone without reservations.
See it at full price
Overall Score: 7.65 – Good. 7s are good, but not great. These films often have a stereotypical plot or are great movies that have a few minor flaws. Fans of this movie’s genre might love it, but others will still enjoy seeing it in theaters.
Far from being the best film of the decade or even the best of the year, The Social Network is an exceptional film hampered a bit by its coldness.