Review 123: The Social Network
Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, On a fall night in October 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) sits down at his computer and heartedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.
The plot is fascinatingly and a showcase for some simply brilliant writing from Aaron Sorkin
The beauty of this film is that its hardly a film about social media
Let me start off by saying the plot is a genius work of art (even if it is very inaccurate) it not only tells an epic story, but it's also got some extremely intriguing ideas e.g. how facebook is a weapon that can destroy a person if used badly and how it can ruin our lives.
The saga of Zuckerberg and to watch him take this journey from becoming a nobody to this superstar is just incredible.
There's an element to this film, possibly Zuckerberg blogging and his inner thoughts that reminds me of myself.
Also we see that as our characters get more and more creative they turn on each other and I think that shows us that you don't always get happiness.
Aaron Sorkin has actually said that this movie "continuously remind you that are listening to a series of unreliable narrators".
Friendship: The Social Network can be seen as a cautionary tale of friendship in the digital age. Whilst Mark Zuckerberg might have started out as nobody in the beginning, he at least had friends in the form of Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) to back him up on his journey.
Over time, Mark's quest for power proves to be far more important to him than loyalty to his friends and the friendship between him and Eduardo falls apart because of his obsession and Mark allows this to happen.
The film very much uses the foundation of Facebook as a backdrop to explore the relationships between these people.
Loyalty:
Jealousy:
Class:
Power: The entire crux of the film is Mark trying to distinguish himself from the crowd and how toll that obsession takes on the people around him.
David Fincher's directing is stylish, the cinematography is gorgeous, the production design is excellent, the Dark ambient score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is beautifully electronic, the costume design is impressive, its well paced, there are some brilliant moments of humour, there are some scenes that excite the intellect as well as the adrenaline glands and give you an adrenaline rush (the scene where Mark is creating Facemash is exhilarating) and the ending is superb.
The acting is excellent, Jesse Eisenberg gives an performance as Mark Zuckerberg. Brilliantly portraying him as an anti social student who is determined to distinguish himself. His motivation is to put himself ahead of others and it just so happens that his way of doing so is putting others down.
It slowly becomes apparent throughout the film that it isn't enough for him to succeed, he needs others to fail. The entire film is told from Mark's perspective. As unbelievable as it may seem, Mark is our audience surrogate throughout the films 120 min runtime. Mark isn't a sociable person, he's so wrapped up in trying to standout and trying to make Facebook the best that it can be that he never fully pays attention to this around him.
Andrew Garfield is brilliant as Eduardo Saverin. Beautifully portraying him as a supportive and loyal friend to Mark and vengeful As the film progresses and the layers start to unravel, it becomes clear that he is not Mark's friends and that he's just using him to further his ambition.
Justin Timberlake gives a charismatic and sometimes dangerous performance as Sean Parker. Initially presenting himself as a cool, calm, calculating and determined person. However, once he's faced with any real problems or dilemmas, his true colours are revealed.
Armie Hammer (in a duel performance no less) is impressive as the Winklevoss twins. Initially they come to Mark
They're hardworking, determined and don't like to loose which puts them strongly at odds with Mark once he steals their idea.
The film also contains a very noteworthy performance from Rooney Mara as Erica Albright, Mark's ex-girlfriend.
The Social Network is a genius piece of filmmaking, everything from the directing to the editing is a near work to perfection and it should be regarded as one of the greatest films of our time, 5/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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