"I'm sure you're gonna be a very successful 'computer person'. But you're gonna go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a geek. And I am telling you, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole."
The Social Network, David Fincher's new film about the creation of Facebook, begins with possibly the greatest break-up sequence of all time. Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg in an Oscar-worthy performance) sits across from his girlfriend, played by future American girl with a dragon tattoo Rooney Mara, discussing the importance of Final Clubs. Zuckerberg dances around the conversation, frequently changing topics and then returning to previous ones without warning, as if he was sorting through transcripts in his head. The scene ends with a heart broken computer nerd, and begins what will eventually turn into the biggest phenomenon of our generation.
Mark returns home and creates a program while drunk that will become so popular that it crashes the entire Harvard computer system. It is because of this that Mark is approached by the Winkelvoss twins (played by the one and only Armie Hammer, another actor worthy of some awards attention) and their companion Divya. The boys approach Zuckerberg to assist them in creating a sort of dating site, but with a catch - it's for Harvard students only, and the idea of exclusivity maintains a major attraction to the borderline sociopath.
However, Zuckerberg instead takes this idea and expands it, and with the financial help of his best friend Eduardo Saverin (future Spider-man star Andrew Garfield in a star-making performance) and his very own computer codes, creates theFacebook.com.
This of course spirals the boys into all kinds of trouble as they navigate social status and dodge the bullets of their WASPY twin opponents. The situation is exacerbated with the arrival of Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake in the 4th award worthy performance of the film), which leads Mark into yet another conflict, this time with his own best friend.
The movie is comprised of three different storylines - the two separate court depositions Zuckerberg faces from the twins and Eduardo, and the story of what actually happened (which may or may not be entirely true). This gives the structure of the film an extremely fluid motion that will hold your attention for the entire span of its two very short hours.
To say that The Social Network is a masterpiece would be an understatement; it isn't just a masterpiece, let alone the film of the year. It is the movie of our generation - a film that defines our time and serves the best social commentary of an era since Th Great Gatsby.
Aaron Sorkin, the writer, may have earned himself his first Oscar for his incredibly fast paced, witty, riveting and heartbreaking script. Scene after scene we are set in a room with incredibly interesting and layered characters who are all on some level of genius as the quibble with each other over issues ranging from what party they should attend to how many hundreds of millions of dollars one owes the other.
David Fincher has directed his finest film yet, and that's saying A LOT since I consider his 2007 film Zodiac a classic. His attentiveness to visual splendor may seem odd for a movie that's essentially simple and character based, but the man has proved that he is more than capable of handling any situation and changing a typical debate to a maniacal conflict that pins you to your seat.
The entire movie rests on the shoulders of more than capable acting, but there are four performances in particular that elevate the movie to another level - Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Armie Hammer.
Eisenberg is electrifying in the lead role; sometimes subtly conveying facial expressions and thoughtful imagining in a way that's so good it's scary, and sometimes spitting out Sorkin's light-speed dialogue like nothing you've ever seen.
Garfield is quietly heartbreaking as Eduardo; whether he's calmly maintaining the boyish helplessness of his character or letting his talent truly shine in a loud and subtly powerful confrontation with his former best friend, the young Brit is a man to watch.
Timberlake will rock your socks off as the sly and devious high school dropout Sean Parker, a cunning snake who slithers in and rips out Mark and Eduardo's relationship from under them.
The role that will most likely be overlooked is Armie Hammer, who truly steals every scene he's in, and on top of that has to play two people at the same time. Employing a body double in Josh Pence and digitally placing Hammer's face on, the film produces an incredible illusion, one that could not have been done without the actor's miraculous portrayal of the twins - while both are similar, they are still two different people, and therefore have different mannerisms, voices, and slight behaviors. It's an incredibly nuanced performance.
In the end, it's the movie's layers that truly stand out the most. This may be a story of our digital age, but its themes are as old as time. It's a story about a guy who creates the most accessible way possible for people to connect, and yet can't connect with anyone himself. It's a rivetingly tragic conclusion, and the movie sneakily hides this within its humor and entertainment value - it gives you this silent feeling that something is wrong, and it haunts you.
To sum up, The Social Network is beautifully directed, brilliantly written, incredibly well-acted, hilarious, entertaining, and ultimately tragic. What more could you possibly want out of a film? It's a movie that leaves you pinned to your seat, not even caring about Facebook itself but thinking about the ways we connect with other people, and that having a lot of "friends" doesn't mean you're not alone. The movie is like it's protagonist - intelligent, fast-moving, and scarily visionary. It's a knockout.
10 /10 (Classic)
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