I shouldn't be admitting this - as an impartial viewer - but I was determined to detest the Facebook movie. Hate is a strong word, but I hate Facebook. And I didn't want to watch a two-hour movie about it.
That wasn't just it. I hated that David Fincher was wasting his time on such silly things, I hated how affected the trailers were and I hated that it was rated PG-13 just to make more money. Most of all, I hated that this glorified soap opera was actually being compared to The Godfather and (blasphemously) Citizen Kane.
But, much as I might have wanted to, I can't hate The Social Network. It's just too damned good.
Starting at Harvard in 2003, it is of course the unauthorized story of the creation of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenburg) is dweeby, unlikable and an out-and-out genius with little social status in a place where it's everything. So instead of making friends the old-fashioned way, he uses his considerable talents with a computer to start a site (The Facebook, he calls it at first) where the entire college social scene can be put on the web. His best friend Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) soon gets in on the business side, and the site rapidly expands from Harvard to campuses across the country.
But Mark isn't in the clear. The Winklevoss twins, stereotypical Harvard men who come from money and row crew, were part of the original team but were soon frozen out, and they want a considerable piece of the Facebook pie.
The story switches seamlessly from the creation story to later depositions as Mark's life starts to become more problematic than even the complex computer codes he so easily writes.
Eisenburg is simply perfect as Zuckerberg. The opening scene, reportedly shot 99 times until Fincher deemed it perfect, is make or break. You're either going to buy the awkward characterization of the socially-inept Mark or you're not, and Eisenburg is dead on. Seeing him take a risk and take the role of an insensitive, unlikable jerk, and then kill it, is gratifying and should catapult him into being thought of as an adult actor worthy of serious roles. Michael Cera, take note.
Fincher again confirms his place as one of the very best American directors of this generation and has convinced me that his dimly lit, urgent and very manly style can surprisingly be plastered on to just about any subject matter and succeed. Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth gets a major assist - a regatta scene in the middle of the film is one of the more creative uses of a camera in a while and if this were a DVD, you'd rewind and wonder exactly how they thought to do it that way.
The true star of the show, however, is Aaron Sorkin's script. Taking a story that's basically about depositions and computer programming and turning it into one of the more engaging, stimulating and downright sad stories of the year is an achievement. A two-hour running time usually involves at least one or two moments when you sigh and wish they'd get on with it. Not here, the pacing is flawless.
That isn't all to say this is the perfect movie. Some of the characters are underdeveloped and over the top - the Winklevosses in particular feel like cartoon characters at points - and the latter half of the film lags behind the first. And this is not the movie that pegs our generation, no matter how much some might want it to be. It's a great character study about a young man whose genius and reckless ambition kill any chance he has at true happiness (not unlike Charles Foster Kane, I must admit), not some comprehensive account of life, as we know it circa now.
But that's also its greatest strength. This is an intimate, focused story about the limits of loyalty and friendship (and a not so subtle critique of Facebook friends). It's not about the technology itself, but how it affects those who use it.
In sum, I still don't like Facebook, but I'm definitely a fan of The Social Network.
- Cameron Dunbar is a sophomore studying journalism. Be a friend and send him your thoughts at cd211209@ohiou.edu
3 Culture
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