What a nerd won't do to get laid. And be accepted. And seek revenge. Mark Zuckerberg is worth 25 BILLION Dollars and he has yet to hit 30. He created (depending on who you talk to) a website so in tune with the internet zeitgeist that even I use it on a regular basis. That's saying something. That site of course is Facebook. Originally THE Facebook. And it all started at Harvard, where every undergrad wants two things-to make more money than God could ever spend and to get a little nookie. Mark Zuckerberg has reached both those goals (I'm speculating on the second one). "The Social Network" is the story of how it happened.
Now to tell a story about how a website came into existence, with all its algorithms and lines of computer code and nerdy characters, requires mad skills. Enter David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin. They are to cinematic storytelling what Mark Zuckerberg is to great website ideas. Fincher has films like "Seven" and "Fight Club" on his resume (forget the interminable Benjamin Button-everyone is allowed a turkey). And Sorkin, well, all he did was write the best written TV show of all time, "The West Wing". These two, especially Sorkin, do not disappoint.
Sorkin's script is complex and nuanced. It bounces back and forth in time between depositions given in two separate lawsuits and the events at Harvard in 2003-2004 where Zuckerberg, as a beer -swilling Sophomore, wrote the code for an idea that would make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. Doesn't sound very dramatic? Like I said-mad skills. It is compelling and fascinating. Never has a computer geek been so Shakespearian in scope, so Machiavellian in temperament and so interesting to watch.
Everyone is good in this film including Justin Timberlake as the smarmy founder of Napster and Andrew Garfield as Facebook's co-founder (and as it turns out, the fifth Beatle) but this film belongs to Jesse Eisenberg, whose nuanced performance is a high-wire act between likable genius and obsessed asshole. He deserves all the award attention he's gonna get.
"The Social Network" is a fascinating treatise on what drives us to greatness and who deserves success. And who doesn't. It makes you wonder just how the real Mark Zuckerberg will live his life, now that everyone has gotten a taste of the pie. Of course, the multi-billion dollar slice still belongs to him. Not bad for a beer-swilling Sophomore.
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Hey, Rich, thanks for the review. Saw the film last night and yes, big props to Sorkin and Fincher for taking what appears on the surface as non-compelling, esoteric subject matter (unless you're a Tracy Kidder) and turning it into one of the best dark comedies in years. A testatment to their skill, that they could truss up "Revenge of the Nerds" as cleverly as they did and slough it off as a serious drama. And further kudos to Eisenberg for his Christian Bale-like (ala "American Psycho") performance! The only shame in this movie is the hope it will give 'real life' nerds at ever getting laid. It's a myth, kids, stick to code. It's only a fairy tale.
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