Film Review: The Social Network

The Social Network is the type of movie that needs to be seen twice to fully comprehend the beauty in it's intricacy. The movie moves at such a break-neck pace that it grabs you by the neck from the excellent opening sequence and doesn't let go until the credits role. People are calling it the movie that defines our generation. I have a hard time arguing with that statement, because it is half a good thing and half a bad thing.

Let's face it. We are pretty clever. In a world where information is spewed into our brains at a seemingly infinite rate, people "our age" have kept up with it pretty well. Those at the forefront of innovation are getting younger every day. One of Obama's head speechwriters during the campaign was in his early twenties. Matt Mullenweig created the website known as Wordpress which has capitalized on the blogging craze (which if you ask me has only enhanced the potency of the "written" word). And of course there is the central character in "The Social Network," Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of facebook.

The film doesn't paint Zuckerberg in a positive light. It doesn't paint him in a negative light either. He's simply smug and narcissistic (we get this from the fantastic opening scene), which I feel are attributes one could attribute to most young people. The Social Network shows what it takes these days, warts and all, to become the youngest billionaire in the world. Sure the movie is a fictionalization of the real events, but the meat is still there. The law suits, the backstabbing, the excitement, the disappointment. It's just written in a more allegorical way that makes the story about more than just the creation of facebook.

Which brings me to what is one of the strongest aspects of the film, its script. The film is written so tightly, so intelligently, that the next thing Aaron Sorkin will be writing is his Oscar speech. It has Sorkin's signature style, blazing fast and impossibly witty, framed in a story that only Shakespeare could have made up. The writing never talks down to the viewer, expecting the audience to keep up as Zuckerberg spits all kinds of computer lingo in the opening 20 minutes. It all goes over our heads--and it's supposed to. Sorkin wants us to understand how smart Zuckerberg is. To take the time to explain in arduous detail what Zuckerberg was doing would only have taken us out of the moment, not to mention bored our eyes out (though i suspect that if there is one writer who could have pulled it off it may indeed be Aaron Sorkin).

The acting is flawless, with both Jesse Eisenberg (who plays Zuckerberg) and Andrew Garfield (who plays his best friend Eduardo Saverin) turning in Oscar-worthy performances. The chemistry between these two is fantastic, you see their friendship in their eyes and their body language, which only makes the film's events that much more powerful. Justin Timberlake is perfectly cast as the devilish Sean Parker, who gives a similar performance to that of Peter Saarsgard in An Education. He plays someone so slick, so charming, that it is tough not realize his real motives.

And lastly we have the masterful direction of David Fincher. What I loved most about Fincher's direction is that the director seemed to play it cool. Known for his innovative special effects and flashy sequences, the stylish director only uses the special effects when necessary, and usually they are so seamless that the audience has no idea that it's even happening (which of course is the best kind). For instance the Winklevoss twins are played by one person, Armie Hammer (another stand-out performance), and through the use of camera tricks and special effects goes completely unnoticed. Fincher pulls fantastic performances out of the young actors, let's the writing do the talking, and paces the film perfectly. That is what a director is supposed to do. Bring everything together and make sure it is all working toward his overall vision. With a resume that includes films like Se7en, The Curious Case of Benjiman Button, Zodiac, and Fight Club, to say his latest film is his best may come with some speculation. But nonetheless, The Social Network is Fincher's most focused, most concise, and overall best movie yet.

The Social Network defines a generation. It show how we are different from any other generation before us. But perhaps the real crux of the movie is the revelation that as much as the world changes, and as much as we change with it, human ambition is and will always be an amazing, beautiful, dangerous, and at times dirty thing.

Don't hesitate to stand in line for this one.

5 out of 5 stars.