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Movie Review by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
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Directed by:
David Fincher |
Written by:
Aaron Sorkin, based on the book: "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of
Facebook a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal" by Ben Mezrich |
Starring:
Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield |
Running time:
120 minutes
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Released:
limited release: 10/01/10 |
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Rated PG-13
for sexual content, drug
and alcohol use and language. |
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"...as a biographical picture it answers the question what happens when you
get a bunch of douche bags together to create a movie about another bunch of
douche bags."
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The Social Network is a prime example of the old
adage – never direct or write a movie when you clearly hate the subject.
Director David Fincher best known as the man who brought us Fight Club (a movie
I loathe) and Seven (a movie I love) and writer Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing)
have crafted a well made hit piece on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg – played
by Jesse Eisenberg.
From the moment we first meet Zuckerberg, his girlfriend is breaking up with him
because he’s a self-centered jerk and the movie never moves away from this
narrative. We never find out what really drives Zuckerberg beyond the fact that
he desperately wants to get into an exclusive Harvard Club. Why he wants to get
in, is never really explored beyond the fact that it was “exclusive.” Several
times the movie hammered the idea home that Zuckerberg doesn’t care about money
or social status but then they use his not getting in as one of the many reasons
he screwed over his best friend – Eduardo Saverin (credited with co-founding
Facebook) who did get in.
The movie clearly takes the viewpoint that Zuckerberg screwed over everyone that
he came into contact with and was at times “oblivious” about the fact that he
was doing it and on other occasions (by Eisenberg’s reactions) clearly knew what
he was doing. Either way it didn’t say much about Zuckerberg as a human being.
Sorkin writes Zuckerberg as though he is the ultimate, anti-social douche bag.
That is until he meets one of his heroes – the hyperactive founder of Napster
Sean Parker. Justin Timberlake does a brilliant job but he portrays Sean as a
hyper, paranoid, drugged up hipster who is obsessed with getting back at the
establishment who screwed him.
The only people who get any amount of sympathy from the filmmakers are the
people who are suing Zuckerberg – namely Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and
Winklevoss’ (Armie Hammer) the twins who claimed Zuckerburg stole the Facebook
idea from them.
I’ve never met or even seen Zuckerberg speak so I’m going to go on the
assumption that he really isn’t Michael Cera in disguise. Eisenberg’s portrayal
comes across as what Hollywood imagines a geek to be like. His speech patterns
and dialogue seemed so affected that it was distracting and felt like I was
watching a performance and not a person that actually exists out in the real
world. It’s as if he studied all of Michael Cera’s movies and came up with this
portrait of Zuckerburg.
This could have been a truly great movie if Sorkin and Fincher had bothered to
take the time to add some sort of balance or texture to Zuckerberg. I liked this
as a movie about a fictional character named Mark Zuckerberg, but as a
biographical picture it answers the question what happens when you get a bunch
of douche bags together to create a movie about another bunch of douche bags –
The Social Network.
Director David Fincher should stick to directing thrillers like
Zodiac, Panic Room,
The Game, Fight Club and Seven because his foray into drama, the lackluster,
overlong
Curious Case of
Benjamin Button, was underwhelming which can be said for The
Social Network as well. An example of one of the many scenes that don’t work at
all is a very bizarre, music video-like scene where Harvard students row on the
Charles River. By the time the end credits scroll, you’ll wish that Fincher
would have toned down his stylish cinematographic skills and focused more on
grounding the film in sense of reality. At a lengthy running time of 2 hours,
The Social Network is ultimately lackluster, pedestrian, emotionally hollow and
underwhelming despite exquisite cinematography and a timely, initially
intriguing premise. . |
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THE SOCIAL NETWORK © 2010
Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group
All Rights Reserved
Review © 2010 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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