Movie Review: The Social Network

What’s the first thing you did this morning? At some point I can almost guarantee it was logging into Facebook. If it wasn’t before you left the house it was more than likely something you did as soon as you got to work. Or maybe even while sitting in traffic with your handheld device of choice. The fact of the matter is that Facebook runs a huge portion of everyday life whether we “like” it or not. And if you ever wondered how the mega-site came to be or are simply looking for a second frontrunner for this year’s Best Picture race then look no further than David Fincher’s The Social Network.

Fincher comes locked and loaded, armed with a motormouthed lead (Jesse Eisenberg, Zombieland, Adventureland), a hilariously game supporting cast and a surefire Best Adapted Screenplay from Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing and Charlie Wilson’s War) based on Ben Mezrich’s novel, The Accidental Billionaires, accounting the infant stages through the millionth members of Facebook.

Even I have to admit that I originally hated the idea of Facebook: being friends with all kinds of people you've either never met or haven’t seen in years suddenly anchoring themselves into your every thought and action. While "what’s on my mind" may not be as continually updated as others, I have since pretty much abandoned my Myspace account. Now after having seen this movie, I actually appreciate Facebook a little more, even if in the grand scheme of things, it all comes to fruition through years of litigation, backstabbing and ultimately an egocentric case of envy.

In Fall 2003, Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) has just been broken up with by his Boston University girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara, the new Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). After she explains to him that he’s like dating a Stairmaster, he gets drunk and starts blogging about her being a bitch — and her false-advertising bra size. At the same time, he hacks into Harvard’s database and steals as many pictures of the female student body as he can. He launches a new site called facemash.com (a “hot or not” rip-off) which crashes Harvard’s server after 22,000 hits in 2 hours.

Article Author: Cinenerd

A Utah based writer, born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT for better and worse. Cinenerd has had an obsession with film his entire life, finally able to write about them since 2009, and the only thing he loves more are his wife and their two wiener dogs (Beatrix Kiddo and Pixar Animation). …

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