Kehoe-Social Network

The Social Network is a docudrama about Internet entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of his website, facebook. Although the film’s focus is the creation of the facebook website, the film is also a critique of the Internet as a whole, especially in terms of anonymity and privacy on the web. The film comments on this theme in many ways though most directly and effectively through its story structure. There are many points in the film where accusations are made against a character, such as when Zuckerberg’s lawyer brings up the charges of animal cruelty that Saverin was accused of while still at Harvard. Saverin’s lawyers immediately begin to question Saverin about the incident, and if he thinks that Zuckerberg planted the story in the Harvard newspaper in order to push Saverin out of the business more easily.
The next scene flashes back to the time of the incident, when the newspaper article was released. Here, Saverin immediately begins accusing the Winklevoss twins of planting the story in an attempt to damage the websites reputation. These scenes highlight the fact that on the Internet, anyone can write anything about anyone and be totally anonymous. No one ever finds out the source of the article or how much of the article is factually accurate, but it does not matter, Severin was accused of animal cruelty and, whether true or false, damaged his reputation. By switching back and forth between present and past the audience can contrast the two scenes and how this anonymity creates paranoia. Sean Parker, the creator of napster, personifies this paranoia; Parker is so paranoid that he warns Zuckerberg that his competition will start bugging his phone and spying on his everyday activities.
The use of lighting in the film is effective in communicating mood. Through out the film, the lighting is often dim and gloomy. This technique communicates the mood and environment of someone sitting alone in a dark room lit only by the glow of a computer screen.

Barkley- The Social Network, A Review

I had zero intentions of seeing The Social Network. I believed that any film, whose plot was based off of Facebook, would have to be a joke. Despite the fact that this movie received rave reviews from critics and from my friends, I was still skeptical. To my surprise, I actually thought that David Fincher did a great job with this film, as I was very apprehensive about the film. Although Fincher hasn't really done a bad film too date and in fact, he has just announced that he will be directing the American version of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. As it seems, Fincher can't really go wrong with anything.

Although The Social Network's main plot was about Facebook's history and upbringing, the film really focused on the break down of Mark and Eduardo's friendship. This, in my opinion, was the best feature of the film. The audience was able to see two best friends become split apart by jealousy, greed, and treachery. Eduardo was portrayed as Mark's friend through and through, no matter what Mark wanted to do, Eduardo was on board. However the two friends began to see things differently as Facebook began to really make a splash on the internet. Eduardo's personally as a businessman really began to show as Facebook gained recognition. Whereas Mark just wanted Facebook to be cool, and was all about the cool factor. This is when the friendship between Mark and Eduardo really began to break down. To me, this was the most interesting part of the film.

It was interesting to watch how things unfolded. The Social Network did a great job of doing this. The film flipped back and forth from the trial to what actually happened. Overall I believe this film did a great job of portraying the series of events that took place during the evolution of Facebook. 

Cascioppo - The Social Network

"Dating you is like dating a stairmaster." That is what Mark Zuckerberg's girlfriend spits out during an argument at the beginning of "The Social Network", David Fincher's new film about how technology is restructuring modern human interactions. The exhausting nature of their pre-breakup argument manages to set the tone for the entire film. A film that is at once sensually pleasing but intellectually frustrating.
This complicated film excels mainly at its visual and auditory styles. The soundtrack is great and the opening sequence featuring the White Stripes' "Ball and a Biscuit" is particularly spot on. The darkness of the film is matched throughout by the dark score produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. Furthermore the contrasting film styles of Zuckerberg's Harvard past, Los Angeles past, and boardroom present give an excellent effect to the film. These contrasting styles allow the viewer to separate the events not only by location but by mood. The fuzzy, darkened tones of Harvard and the opening party sequence are a highlight of the film. Also the Thames river crew racing scene was, in my mind, the best scene of the film.
What Fincher fails at is giving the audience a chance to care about any of the characters. Are you supposed to sympathize with Zuckerberg? He's an asshole, he's obsessed, he's manipulative, but he's also the "troubled genius" and the scene that shows him administering the drinking contest/internship interview makes you feel relieved that Zuckerberg is finally having a good time. Furthermore Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake in the best acting performance of the film) possesses a "you're the dude, dude" maestro quality but is also narcissistic and scheming. Eduardo seems to be the best candidate to hold the title of protagonist but he is weak-willed and becomes increasing unintelligent-looking in comparison with Zuckerberg. It doesn't help that Fincher requires the audience to take a major leap of faith to believe the manner in which Eduardo's shares were treated by Zuckerberg and the Facebook corporation team. Could it have in reality actually gone down like that? Fincher doesn't show us.
The breakneck speed of the film may have been used on purpose to reflect the speed that technology is rapidly involving. I appreciate technology. I don't appreciate justifying sitting through a two-hour plus film solely because it featured good scoring and cinematography; I need a character to relate to.