Facebook. Everyone knows about it and almost everybody is on it. To not be a part of it is just as conscious a decision as not to drink water, as it has become just as much a part of society as eating and sleeping. Despite its widespread popularity, however, for most, little is known about its origins, its founders, and how it has become such an institution in our everyday life. Cue Columbia Pictures to bring you The Social Network, the tale of how this social networking phenom implanted itself into the homes of millions of Americans nationwide.
The Social Network’s narrative plays itself out with one main linear story, comprised of flashbacks from two different trial proceedings. The story starts with Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg [Jesse Eisenberg] having a drink and conversation at a small collegiate bar. During a talk about his desire to stand out amongst others in the Harvard community, he belittles various social / educational groups and ultimately, the female friend with whom he is conversing. For his pomposity, she dumps him, and despite his plead for forgiveness, leaves him alone at the bar. Unable to cope with his situation, he gets drunk and blogs about the incident, eventually creating a website to desecrate the entire female population of his school. The site catches the attention of a group of well off, high society students, who entrust him to help them build HarvardConnect, an exclusive online social network that collectively links the students of Harvard to one another. It is the instillation of this idea in Zuckerberg’s head that gets the gears turning towards the invention of The Facebook.
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg building Facebook
It is here that he starts on what one could argue is a paradoxical ascending downward spiral. With the capital fronted to him by his best friend / business manager Eduardo Saverin [Andew Garfield] & the programming help of his roommate Dustin Moskovitz [Joseph Mazzello], he gets to work on this business venture that sends him on a roller coaster of events including run-ins with fellow students, beautiful co-eds, lawyers, investors, and the highly influential friend / foe Sean Parker [Justin Timberlake.] It’s a journey that is just as enjoyable to watch as it seems would have been to have experienced it first hand.
Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) talking over drinks
Where The Social Network succeeds is that it is able to bring to the screen a story that is not only entertaining and informative, but also believable. Too many times, Hollywood takes the story of real life events and twists it to the point that the audience no longer believes that what they are seeing is possible. The Social Network, on the other hand, delivers a story that anybody that has ever attended a college can relate to. Getting drunk at parties, hanging out with your friends in the dorm, and dealing with relationships, it’s all there. Only it tells the story in the context of the creation of Facebook, and given that it’s something that everyone who has ever updated their status wants to know, it makes it all the more stimulating.
In addition to the story itself, a commendation should go to the acting. Somehow director David Fincher was able to extract a superb performance from his entire cast. Ranging from Eisenberg’s portrayal of the pretentious & business minded yet somewhat socially awkward Mark Zuckerberg to Timberlake’s sleazy yet lovable Sean Parker, it seems as though the actors captured all the intricacies of the characters. Even the smaller supporting roles shone through and conveyed the moments of tumultuous emotion with a polish that lent to the overall effectiveness of the film. Everybody on screen seemed to really nail what they were trying to achieve with their roles.
Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and his roommate Dustin Moskovitz (Joseph Mazzello)
All told, The Social Network a great film. It details the very sequence of events that led to Facebook’s creation and the obstacles that had to be surpassed for it to be as successful as it is today. Above and beyond, however, is that it does this in a manner that seemingly would be enjoyable to the Facebook using demographic. It manages to stay within all the boundaries of being a believable, enjoyable ride that informs while entertaining. I’d definitely suggest this movie to anybody who has ever used (or avoided) the social networking conglomerate known to us all as Facebook.
We will be posting more advance screenings of The Social Network, so keep checking!
Hollywood has chosen its next remake victim: Freddy Krueger and the Nightmare on Elm Street series. The first warning signs were in the opening credits where you saw that the story was based on the characters created by Wes Craven (not written or directed by him) and then that it was produced by Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes production company (the guys behind all those other horror remakes: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, Friday the 13th, etc).
The Losers
Splice
Inception
WonderCon is one of the country’s best comics conventions featuring guests and events for comics, movies, video games, and other popular media. This year, WonderCon had presentations by such Hollywood studios as Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, and Lionsgate.
