It came out of nowhere. Millions of people are talking about it. And it could be talked about for years to come as a very clever successful venture. No, not Facebook, but rather the Facebook film. Or The Social Network, to address it by the proper title. For those unfortunate people who have been left out of the loop, The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg, one of the founding members of excessively popular networking site Facebook. Or rather it tells the story of how he ended up embroiled in a couple of high profile, high stakes court cases as a result of “his” creation.
It is important to mention from the off that Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) does not sponsor, condone, appear in, or promote this film. Not only that, but he has been quoted as stating that he movie got a lot of stuff wrong and random details right, illustrated by the fact that Facebook was not invented as a revenge mission on a girl who had just dumped him. With this information in tow, it is not entirely sure whether we are watching a biopic or a fictional drama.
That said, regardless of what genre it falls in to, The Social Network opens with an incredibly stark portrayal of Zuckerberg- belittling his supposed then girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) by suggesting that because she attends Boston University and not the prestigious Harvard like himself, she would never “get to meet people she otherwise would not meet” unless she stuck by him. Needless to say he gets dumped unceremoniously, with her having the final say; “you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole”. Ouch.
The story itself is seamlessly interwoven between two separate law suits- one of which involving the Winklevoss twins: Cameron and Tyler (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence), and the other Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield)- and a series of flashbacks, it is expertly crafted. For a film which threatens to be quite boring from a reading of the synopsis, it moves at quite a steady pace, all the while shot in a manner which we have come to expect from director David Fincher. It is dark, very dark. Poorly lit rooms and shadowy walls all point towards a visual representation of the loneliness of a now single Zuckerberg throughout his journey, his only solace at times coming from the eerie illuminating glow of a computer screen.
Eisenberg’s character isn’t portrayed any better as the film continues; quite the opposite. He’s an asshole, as we were told. He is intelligent, but maybe too much so. Genius? Probably, but with no social skills- even though he is actively trying to change that. He is blunt, ignorant, self centred, scheming, vengeful... but for some reason likeable. His humour lacks delivery but the punch lines excel. He doesn’t care for money, preferring respect amongst peers. And even though he betrays his best and only true friend, he still redeems himself to some extent in the final scene, showing that he is human after all. And humans make mistakes.
He is also emotional, charismatic, complex, driven, all of which displayed in one tender scene at a time when Zuckerberg should be attending an after party having reached one million members. The complex amalgamation of traits on display could in fact win Eisenberg an Oscar, at the very least announcing himself well and truly on Hollywood’s A-list. His performance is so commanding that the other characters remain on the periphery struggling to be noticed. Andrew Garfield’s wild emotional breakdowns are brushed aside, and Justin Timberlake’s appearance as Sean Parker (co-founder of music sharing client Napster) who appears to set the Facebook juggernaut in motion, is a little self indulgent and not at all as memorable as his previous roles in Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan. Not to mention the incredibly repetitive and annoying Winklevoss’, or “Winklevii” are Zuckerberg creatively addresses them.
Perhaps one of the great achievements of The Social Network is the mixture of characters. There are real world professionals in the fields of law and education. There is royalty, students, college jocks, friends, enemies, popular people, unpopular people, girls, guys and the inevitable ex girlfriend. Essentially, it is an amazing visual representation of the real world social network, and the links between different people.
Overall this is an excellent portrayal of the rise and rise of an unlikeable person within a world full of different people and different personalities, and a world where a simple idea can be worth billions of dollars, but not (to paraphrase the excellent film poster) without making a few enemies along the way.
Rating:
4/5
I never had enough of an urge to go and see this movie but as time goes on I'm hearing how good it is. I will give it a go especially since now I know it's a David Fincher directed film.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, this was very well written and constructed Shane and, most importantly, still made sense! Genuinely, a great review.