The Social Network

Certain films or moments in films are truly inspiring. You can't watch Kenneth Branagh deliver the St. Crispin's Day speech in Henry V without wanting to go out and kill French people. Braveheart will make you punch someone with a British accent in the mouth. The Social Network is this kind of movie. As soon as the closing credits began to roll, I wanted to log on and delete my Facebook account. Don't worry, I was able to fight the urge. I didn't think it was fair to punish my Facebook friends by depriving them of my genius just because Mark Zuckerberg is apparently one of the indubitably great dickheads of our generation.


I've always looked at Jesse Eisenberg as a slightly darker version of Michael Cera, geeky, awkward and typically funny. For the role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Eisenberg is able to manifest these qualities into a real individual capable of brilliant accomplishments. I've never seen an interview with Zuckerberg so I don't know how accurate the portrayal is but I also don't think it matters. Andrew Garfield is very good as co-founder Eduardo Saverin and his relationship with girlfriend Christy provides some much needed levity during a very heavy point in the movie. I was stunned when I found out the Winklevoss twins were both played by Armie Hammer. I never once thought that wasn't a set of twins playing the role. I've heard people complain about Justin Timberlake not receiving an Oscar bid for his portrayal of Sean Parker but I thought he was just good, nothing spectacular about his performance.

It only takes the opening scene to realize David Fincher isn't going to be telling a triumph of the nerds type of story. Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin use court deposition sessions to tell the story of Facebook's creation. It's a story as relevant today as Wallstreet was to the 80's yuppie culture. In today's creative culture, the ownership of intellectual property is as important as owning the factory. What constitutes ownership and the ethics involved are as much a part of this story as the writing of the actual code. Lines get blurry in today's society where face to face conversations and phone calls have been replaced by text messages and email. Everyone wanted to be the smartest guy in the room but the only way to tell the score was by who had the money. 

The Social Network is slick and beautifully made. It tells a compelling story but in the end I wasn't left feeling as though I'd seen something special. That's not an insult to the movie. The story was told about as well as it could have been. Ultimately, the film and story just lacked the WOW/Oh My God moment or dynamic Gordon Gecko character a movie needs to make the jump from very good to great.