Rated PG-13 for language, drug and alcohol use and sexual content
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer Jr., Max Minghella
Director: David Fincher
NOTE: Because I started this blog late in the year, I've opted to go back and review movies currently up for multiple Academy Awards.
"The Social Network" begins and ends with two assessments of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The first is of the pre-billionaire Zuckerberg, after his college girlfriend breaks up with him following a verbal confrontation in a Harvard night club. ("You're going to go through life thinking girls don't like you because you're a nerd. But you're wrong. It's because you're an asshole!") The second is from an associate for the law firm representing Zuckerberg in two separate lawsuits. She offers a different perspective. Not a polar opposite take, but a different one nonetheless. What takes place in between is a fascinating exploration into Facebook's meteoric rise, and the tribulations that too often defined the relationship between Zuckerberg and those in his immediate circle.
Based upon the book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich, the film follows the journey of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) from the remarkable on-the-fly creation of "FaceMash" in the confines of his dorm room... a site where Harvard students could rate the "hotness" of undergraduate girls. Born the result of a post-break-up-anger-plus-alcohol binge with the assistance of his roommate Dustin Moskovitz (Joseph Mazzello) and his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), the site accumulated 22,000 hits off the bat, crashing the school's internal network.
That stunt raised the ire of virtually the entire female undergraduate body but caught the attention of Porcellian club elites and champion rowers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (both played by Armie Hammer) who have an idea for an online social network. Zuckerberg listens to their pitch, agrees to help with writing the necessary program code, but soon after stops correspondence with the twins, opting instead to work on his own project. He enlists the financial assistance of Eduardo, and the new site is born. They call it "The Facebook."
Upon learning of Zuckerberg's creation, the twins are irate. Was the idea stolen? The movie seems to hint in that direction, but stops short of stating it. Zuckerberg's actions are suspicious, but he stands by the originality of his creation. When questioned about it by Eduardo, he swears he didn't use the same code utilized in the Winklevoss' concept. "If someone builds a really nice chair, do they have to pay everyone else who builds a chair?" he asks rhetorically.
The site gains popularity, to the point where Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) sits up and takes notice. A slick young entrepreneur with wicked smarts offset by an even more wicked tendency to not work and play well with others, Parker offers his own input regarding the possible future for the newly-created social network in a meeting with Zuckerberg and his associates. Eduardo is immediately suspicious. He'd rather attempt to acquire advertisers in New York City. Parker says California is the way to go. "You know what's better than a few million dollars?" he says. "A billion." Zuckerberg is won over. Eduardo is eventually forced out.
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher have managed something quite remarkable... a fully engrossing movie about characters who do little more than sit in a room and talk. I have a few friends who scoff at the concept here, dismissing it as a "silly Facebook movie". What can I say? I've seen it twice now, and have been enthralled both times.
The main reason is the depiction of Zuckerberg himself. Is it accurate? It's pointless of me to muse on such things. I have no idea of its legitimacy, and I'll never know. All I can say is that I was pulled in immediately. Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as a brilliant, driven yet socially awkward young man at the mercy of his own emotional reactions. (Show me one insecure college kid who isn't.) He doesn't come off as deliberately underhanded. At one point, the plaintiff's lawyer opens up the possibility that Zuckerberg was obsessed with the notion of exclusivity and became jealous of Eduardo Saverin's acceptance into the Phoenix social club, and that was what led her client to be forced out. Zuckerberg argues convincingly against this. ("You're trying to establish that I was planning to force him out of a company I hadn't started yet.") Zuckerberg's rift with Eduardo came, I believe, when Eduardo froze the funds needed to run the site because of his suspicions about Parker.
Zuckerberg does seem guilty, however, of an inherent desire to stick it to anyone he believes holds a higher social status. It's hard to say definitively if the Facebook concept was lifted wholly and directly from the Winklevoss twins because Zuckerberg himself appears convinced it wasn't. He wastes no time in claiming the reason for their lawsuit is because "for once, things didn't work out exactly as they wanted it to." It's that insecurity and veiled paranoia that links him, I think, with Parker and draws him away from Eduardo. His affiliation with Sean Parker certainly made him richer, but fed his insatiable appetite for mistrust and widened the gap between himself and his former inner-circle.
The testimony against Zuckerberg certainly takes its toll, but does result in kind advice offered by the junior law associate (Rashida Jones). She tells him to settle the lawsuit. That it's "a speeding ticket" in the grand scheme of things. But there's another reason. She senses his loneliness, and sees that being on the receiving end of this suit is forcing his hand in ways that continue to isolate him. "You're not an asshole, Mark" she offers. "You're just trying so hard to be one."
The long day of testimony has ended for him. Everyone has gone home. He sits alone, his laptop open upon the table before him. He has nowhere to go. No one to see. He logs on to Facebook. Calls up the profile page of the girlfriend who dumped him years ago. The torch still burns. He's not destroyed. He has simply come to an understanding that faces all of us during our lifetime. That social insecurity cannot be circumvented. Before we can place our acceptance at the mercy of those around us, we must first accept ourselves... with all our flaws in tow. That's a mighty tall order, regardless if you're a student, employed and living paycheck to paycheck, or the creator of an enterprise worth over twenty-five billion dollars.
* * * * out of * * * * stars
"The Social Network" begins and ends with two assessments of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The first is of the pre-billionaire Zuckerberg, after his college girlfriend breaks up with him following a verbal confrontation in a Harvard night club. ("You're going to go through life thinking girls don't like you because you're a nerd. But you're wrong. It's because you're an asshole!") The second is from an associate for the law firm representing Zuckerberg in two separate lawsuits. She offers a different perspective. Not a polar opposite take, but a different one nonetheless. What takes place in between is a fascinating exploration into Facebook's meteoric rise, and the tribulations that too often defined the relationship between Zuckerberg and those in his immediate circle.
Based upon the book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich, the film follows the journey of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) from the remarkable on-the-fly creation of "FaceMash" in the confines of his dorm room... a site where Harvard students could rate the "hotness" of undergraduate girls. Born the result of a post-break-up-anger-plus-alcohol binge with the assistance of his roommate Dustin Moskovitz (Joseph Mazzello) and his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), the site accumulated 22,000 hits off the bat, crashing the school's internal network.
That stunt raised the ire of virtually the entire female undergraduate body but caught the attention of Porcellian club elites and champion rowers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (both played by Armie Hammer) who have an idea for an online social network. Zuckerberg listens to their pitch, agrees to help with writing the necessary program code, but soon after stops correspondence with the twins, opting instead to work on his own project. He enlists the financial assistance of Eduardo, and the new site is born. They call it "The Facebook."
Upon learning of Zuckerberg's creation, the twins are irate. Was the idea stolen? The movie seems to hint in that direction, but stops short of stating it. Zuckerberg's actions are suspicious, but he stands by the originality of his creation. When questioned about it by Eduardo, he swears he didn't use the same code utilized in the Winklevoss' concept. "If someone builds a really nice chair, do they have to pay everyone else who builds a chair?" he asks rhetorically.
The site gains popularity, to the point where Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) sits up and takes notice. A slick young entrepreneur with wicked smarts offset by an even more wicked tendency to not work and play well with others, Parker offers his own input regarding the possible future for the newly-created social network in a meeting with Zuckerberg and his associates. Eduardo is immediately suspicious. He'd rather attempt to acquire advertisers in New York City. Parker says California is the way to go. "You know what's better than a few million dollars?" he says. "A billion." Zuckerberg is won over. Eduardo is eventually forced out.
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher have managed something quite remarkable... a fully engrossing movie about characters who do little more than sit in a room and talk. I have a few friends who scoff at the concept here, dismissing it as a "silly Facebook movie". What can I say? I've seen it twice now, and have been enthralled both times.
The main reason is the depiction of Zuckerberg himself. Is it accurate? It's pointless of me to muse on such things. I have no idea of its legitimacy, and I'll never know. All I can say is that I was pulled in immediately. Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as a brilliant, driven yet socially awkward young man at the mercy of his own emotional reactions. (Show me one insecure college kid who isn't.) He doesn't come off as deliberately underhanded. At one point, the plaintiff's lawyer opens up the possibility that Zuckerberg was obsessed with the notion of exclusivity and became jealous of Eduardo Saverin's acceptance into the Phoenix social club, and that was what led her client to be forced out. Zuckerberg argues convincingly against this. ("You're trying to establish that I was planning to force him out of a company I hadn't started yet.") Zuckerberg's rift with Eduardo came, I believe, when Eduardo froze the funds needed to run the site because of his suspicions about Parker.
Zuckerberg does seem guilty, however, of an inherent desire to stick it to anyone he believes holds a higher social status. It's hard to say definitively if the Facebook concept was lifted wholly and directly from the Winklevoss twins because Zuckerberg himself appears convinced it wasn't. He wastes no time in claiming the reason for their lawsuit is because "for once, things didn't work out exactly as they wanted it to." It's that insecurity and veiled paranoia that links him, I think, with Parker and draws him away from Eduardo. His affiliation with Sean Parker certainly made him richer, but fed his insatiable appetite for mistrust and widened the gap between himself and his former inner-circle.
The testimony against Zuckerberg certainly takes its toll, but does result in kind advice offered by the junior law associate (Rashida Jones). She tells him to settle the lawsuit. That it's "a speeding ticket" in the grand scheme of things. But there's another reason. She senses his loneliness, and sees that being on the receiving end of this suit is forcing his hand in ways that continue to isolate him. "You're not an asshole, Mark" she offers. "You're just trying so hard to be one."
The long day of testimony has ended for him. Everyone has gone home. He sits alone, his laptop open upon the table before him. He has nowhere to go. No one to see. He logs on to Facebook. Calls up the profile page of the girlfriend who dumped him years ago. The torch still burns. He's not destroyed. He has simply come to an understanding that faces all of us during our lifetime. That social insecurity cannot be circumvented. Before we can place our acceptance at the mercy of those around us, we must first accept ourselves... with all our flaws in tow. That's a mighty tall order, regardless if you're a student, employed and living paycheck to paycheck, or the creator of an enterprise worth over twenty-five billion dollars.
* * * * out of * * * * stars
