What’s most astonishing about the movie The Social Network isn’t that it was created, but the speed in which its creation occurred. The subject matter of the movie, Facebook and its founders, have been in the public consciousness for a little over five years. In film time that is astonishingly fast for a movie on Facebook to come around. In some ways the movie’s existence came about almost as fast as the creation of Facebook itself.
Jesse Eisenberg, previously seen in Adventureland, Zombieland and Holy Rollers, plays Mark Zuckerberg, the elusive co-founder of Facebook. Right away we’re meant to dislike this person, as his response to his girlfriend dumping him for being an asshole is to write malicious comments about her on his blog while simultaneously creating a website that allows students to rate the attractiveness of Harvard female undergrads. But it’s not simply his actions that make this portrayal unlikable. It’s everything about Zuckerberg. Throughout the movie he carries himself with a superior air around him; as if he believes he’s better then everyone around him. To him he’s above the rules of others and can do whatever he wants to get ahead, even if it screws over others. But it would be unfair to call him a sociopath, as he clearly does care about others and what they think about him. Eisenberg was very good in his portrayal of Zuckerberg, erasing all previous images of the very likeable characters he’s played in the past.
The story of how Facebook came about is shrouded in controversy, which the film goes to great lengths to address. After Zuckerberg’s Harvard attractiveness stunt he’s approached by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (hilariously played by Armie Hammer in both roles) about helping them set up a Harvard social network called Harvard Connection. Mark agrees to help them, then goes off and creates his own Harvard social network with his friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). They launch their website, called TheFaceBook, and it is an immediate hit. Cameron and Tyler are furious since Mark not only stole their idea but intentionally led them on that he was working on their project so he guaranteed that his site would be launched first. The twins, along with their business partner Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) decide they will not stand for this atrocity and begin taking legal action against Zuckerberg. While this goes on the website grows to include other Northeast schools. The site catches the attention of Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who is brought on as a consultant. As Mark and Sean grow closer Eduardo begins to slowly become shut out of the project.
Throughout the film the action shifts to two depositions involving lawsuits against Zuckerberg. The first is by the Winklevoss twins and Narendra, who are suing Zuckerberg for stealing their idea. The second is by Saverin, who is suing Zuckerberg as a result of a much deeper betrayal. I won’t reveal what it is exactly, only that by the time it comes up Garfield’s character can’t even look at Zuckerberg.
The movie runs at a brisk pace without feeling rushed or to speedy. While some have said the end of the film doesn’t offer any real closure that’s entirely the point. This isn’t the story of these character’s lives, but rather a specific time in their lives. Their stories are still being written, so they should be incomplete.
Overall this was a very enjoyable movie to see. I would recommend it to anyone, especially those why have a Facebook page. In some ways, you owe it to yourselves to see how your beloved social network came about.
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