OSCARWATCH 2011 - The Social Network

There are few things more interesting than a scandal. Which is part of the reason the Facebook movie is so fascinating — did Mark Zuckerberg really steal the idea of the world’s most influential social media site from a couple of Harvard crew twins? And did he totally betray his best friend along the way, throwing him to the wayside in order to bring another Silicon Valley mind on board? These are pretty scandalous accusations. And yes, they do add to the plot of this movie immensely.

But the fact of the matter is, Facebook has grown to be such a large part of our culture, that everyone WANTS to hear it’s origin story. And it certainly doesn’t hurt the plot that apparently lies, deceit and partying were a large part of the equation as well. This movie is timely, it’s well made, the acting is great, and it’s written by a master of dialogue, Aaron Sorkin. For all these reasons and more, it is certainly one of the best films of the year, and possibly may even walk away with that Best Picture statue come Sunday.

For people who haven’t seen the movie, The Social Network is about the founding of Facebook and it’s rise from a student run Harvard-only network, to a Silicon Valley company with huge potential and endless investors. Along the way we see break ups, fights, friendships ending, and of course, lawsuits. Two lawsuits to be exact.

The first of which was brought by the Winklevoss twins, Harvard rowers who had enlisted Zuckerberg to help them with an idea for a social dating site. They charged Zuckerberg with stealing their idea, and said that they were in fact the inventors of Faceback. The other lawsuit was brought by none other than Zuckerberg’s former best friend (and cofounder of Facebook), Eduardo Saverin. This was because he had been effectively “tricked” to sign away his portion of Facebook, after being the only source of capital as the project took off.

The movie just feels so modern and connected, which is everything you’d think a movie about Facebook should be. The dialogue is sharp and delivered at a quick pace, keeping the pace of this movie moving forward quickly. Just as in the latest online fad, you’ve gotta keep up or you’re gonna be left behind. That seems to be what happens to Saverin in this movie; although he’s very intelligent, he never seems to be on the same page as his best friend, wanting to advertise on the site before Mark thinks it’s time, and ultimately losing his power over the site to Silicon Valley “celebrity” Sean Parker, an excitable, super cool nerd who sees the potential in the Facebook.

This movie takes the origins of Facebook and makes it glossy and sexy. The way it’s shot gives it a very sleek feel, which fits well with the technology in the movie and the overall subject matter of social media. The shots of the Harvard campus in Boston are also beautifully shot, showing off the campus nicely. The one complaint I have visually has to do with anytime the actors are outside on a cold day and we see their breath. It looks so fake, it’s really distracting… but I guess it’s not really fair to harp on that, since I saw an article about that before I watched the movie. Otherwise I’m not sure if I’d notice it. So I apologize in advance for ruining those scenes for you.

Onto the acting…Jesse Einsenberg is so good in this movie, playing Zuckerberg in a way that gives him humanity even though his character is written as a complete and giant asshole. J Timberlake and Andrew Garfield also play their parts well, I even found myself forgetting that I was watching JT sometimes. I thought that was quite a feat.

But the main thing that really draws you into this film is the story. Especially for people in my generation, who were in college at the dawn of the Facebook generation, watching it all play out is like being behind the scenes of Disneyworld when you’re 5 years old. How did this get put into our lives? How did it become such a cultural phenomenon? If you want the answer, check out this movie.

The last scene of the movie really helps wrap everything else (as it well should.) We see Zuckerberg, at the end of a day of legal proceedings, sitting at his computer after “Friend Requesting” his ex-girlfriend, and refreshing his screen over and over again to see if she accepted. Even the creator of Facebook is not immune to the motive behind the use of his invention — social acceptance.

This is definitely a must-see and it may end up upsetting the King’s Speech for Best Picture. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens...

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 on the Marci scale.