The Social Network

Released: 2010

Directed By: David Fincher

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield

Certificate: 12A

Reviewed By: Darryl Griffiths When it was first suggested, the catcalls were loud and in large numbers. Many thought that the uneasy mix of depicting the creation of an overnight phenomenon like Facebook founded by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, handpicking various up and comers in Hollywood to play the roles and having highly regarded David Fincher at the helm was doomed to be an unmitigated disaster. But we should all know by now, we should have more faith in Mr Fincher considering his track record.. thankfully, it hasn’t been wasted here.

The rise and rise of Mr Zuckerberg played here by Jesse Eisenberg, begins in the prestigious world of Harvard in 2003, where he is playing the role of dumpee to his now ex-girlfriend Erica. Filling the air with anger through the awkward rejection, he heads back to his accomodation and starts to indulge in his inner geek, causing technical havoc for Harvard’s bigwigs by creating Facemash and crashes their system. He’s not alone in this intelligent plotting, with his partner in crime Eduardo Severin (Andrew Garfield) being taken along for the ride.

Such events attract attention elsewhere, most predominantly from two identical twins called the Winklevoss’. As Cameron and Tyler (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) respectably, they conjure up a creation for a website called The Harvard Connection and they want Zuckerberg to be their anchor man in making it. But his sneaky demeanour attempts to make ‘thefacebook’, essentially nicking the fundamentals of their idea and stalling the creation of their site. In the not too distant future, this sets up well documented legal wrangles aplenty against Mr Facebook. These issues essentially make up the majority of the running time which even includes Zuckerberg’s one time friend Severin. Safe to say, a certain egotistical founder of Napster, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) may have had a hand in such turn of events.

The key quality here is undoubtedly the script, by the West Wing’s Aaron Sorkin. The fluidity that the film has is all down to the dialogue being quickfire, zippy and most importantly, being as smart as its key protagonist. With ‘Network’ being essentially targeted at its teen generation, it would be easy to say that its talky nature would be a little demanding for them to sit through. But it always remains fascinating viewing, hard not to be when it has such engaging performances from its young cast.

Timberlake is a revelation as the slimeball and money hungry Parker who was perhaps the key figure in propelling Zuckerberg to the big time. Garfield’s slow unravel from naive student to a simmering powderkeg fighting for his share of Facebook is competently portrayed, but the film well and truly belongs to Eisenberg. In turn, emotionally distant and cold, remarkably brutal to people around him but always conflicted, he creates an on screen monster for the ages.

Fincher’s technical prowess can not be forgotten though. His less flashy, restrained style here works beautifully with the legal and educational settings it depicts. The film’s key message is one simple juxtaposition aimed at Zuckerberg, embodied in its final sequences.. ‘the irony of creating a virtual world garnering many friends in the process, but ultimately in reality, it drives the very essence of friendship away.

The Social Network.. One of the best films of recent years? LIKE.