Cult director turned critical darling David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) accomplishes the seemingly impossible with his newest effort The Social Network. He delivers an intricately woven, character-driven powerhouse based on the potentially boring account of an internet website's creation.
Not just any website, but the enormously popular Facebook. The crack cocaine of social networking. The viral reimagining of human interaction that turned its co-founder Mark Zuckerberg into the world's youngest billionaire. And in West Wing scribe Aaron Sorkin's screenplay, this sort of unorthodox success can't exist without opening some wounds.
Aaron Sorkin's Witty Writing Maintains Focus on Character
Sorkin's work dazzles from the get-go, as the first scene doles out crackerjack, Howard Hawks-style dialogue while simultaneously placing all of the plot elements on the table. Harvard sophomore Zuckerberg's (Jesse Eisenberg of Zombieland) mathematical mind clearly struggles to relate to his girlfriend and the world in general. His fixation on joining one of the school's elite undergrad "Final Clubs" and his lack of rowing team machismo are story seeds that later niggle at his soul.
By the end of the night, said girlfriend delivers a stinging rebuke followed by a swift breakup, spurring Zuckerberg to spawn a nasty bit of online revenge in a bout of drunken hacking and blogging. When his internet-based nerd rage attracts the attention of a twin pair of rich Olympic hopefuls (played by lone actor Armie Hammer with the help of special effects), the athletic oarsmen convince Mark to help code their idea for an exclusive, campus-based networking website.
Nerds Have the Last Laugh in The Social Network's "Byte Club"
Mark fails to build their site, instead fleshing out his own design for what was initially called "The Facebook." In the purportedly non-fictional realm of The Social Network (adapted from the book The Accidental Billionaires by "college kids getting rich" go-to guy Ben Mezrich), Zuckerberg's modus operandi is snagging seed ideas from others with little regard to giving credit where it is due.
One such element is an algorithm swiped from Mark's best friend Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield) that ultimately becomes a building block of the ensuing internet empire. These energetic scenes of inception (driven by a pulsating score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) are soon revealed as flashbacks, framed by the pre-hearing debates of two lawsuits accusing Zuckerberg of intellectual theft and shady business dealings.
Jesse Eisenberg Brings Depth to an Unlikable Protagonist
Yet for all of the media's anticipation of Hollywood demonizing a successful genius, the point of this story is that deep down inside Zuckerberg is a decent (albeit flawed) guy. The film is gutsy by throwing down the gauntlet of these flaws and daring the audience to click on Mark's "friend" button. Eisenberg's nuanced performance helps retain sympathies even while he's forming his own virtual secret society as revenge for being excluded from those of the real world.
This film's Zuckerberg is a fascinating study of a young man who sees humanity as an equation, creating an avenue for others to interconnect while personally shunning vibrant parties in favor of stark dorm rooms lit by LCD computer screens. There is sex, but the film's only major love story is the Platonic triangle that unfolds as Mark rejects Saverin (who is also his financial backer and business partner) once Justin Timberlake's wild man Sean Parker (of Napster semi-fame) enters the picture with the lure of the West Coast.
David Fincher Continues to Stun While Maturing as a Director
Fincher has taken one step further away from his MTV video roots, eschewing his penchant for visual flair (apart from a Thames rowing competition turned miniature diorama courtesy of clever lensing techniques.) When Facebook's member count reaches one million, Fincher resists the urge to render the number as a floating graphic or an overlaid optical effect. Still, the imagery retains his traditional patina, and Fight Club cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth returns to deliver a color palette largely derived of yellows, browns and greens.
Yet ultimately Fincher's greatest success here is his choice of script. The Social Network could have been another forgettable film such as 21, but what unfurls is an intricate meditation on human interaction - both flesh-based and electronic. On jealousy and how it poisons what it touches. On modern technology turning petty revenge into something that leaves permanent scars. And on how taking the lead is often the easy part - it's maintaining that winning gap that can take the biggest personal toll.
The Social Network
- Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, Brenda Song, Rooney Mara, Max Minghella, Rashida Jones
- Director: David Fincher
- Writer: Aaron Sorkin (based on a non-fiction book by Ben Mezrich)
- Running time: 121 minutes
- Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language.
- Grade: A
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