The Social Network: such a simple, yet brilliant, concept for a movie. Facebook: the website that has become as vital as oxygen to millions worldwide. The makers of The Social Network have used their common sense to make a movie that will attract millions of people to the box office; they have made a movie about the creation of the phenomenon that has become part of our everyday routines. That being said, I found Social Network to be a great movie. It was refreshing to see Jesse Eisenberg play a complete asshole, instead of the fun, loveable dork. It was even more refreshing, not to mention downright pleasing, to see him play his part so convincingly. There were times when his delivery of lines were just so perfect, so on point, that I wanted to delete my facebook account from my phone, because I believed Mark Zuckerburg to be such a pompous prick. Whether that portrayal of his character is completely factual or not is irrelevant to me; Eisenberg’s performance simply shined through the dull, dark lighting of the film. That being said, the rest of the cast – while not completely up to Eisenberg’s performance in my opinion – was still superb. The movie itself was a combination of brilliant acting, directing, cinematography, and even wardrobe. I was afraid for a while that it would look just like a movie made about the early 2000’s in the late 2000’s. I was glad to be proven wrong. It was somewhat nostalgic to see the years of my youth come alive on the big screen. The sequencing of shots was an “A+” decision as well. They take you to the past, and the present, and then the past again, but even further back this time, but then to the past, just a little later. It wasn’t in chronological order, which I believe made it that much better. It was a risky move to take, with so many people being confused by movies that don’t follow a chronological linear patter, but it worked. It made the movie. Was the film completely accurate? I’m not sure, but most movies are biased anyway. Its accuracy was not the deciding factor; how the movie was done was the deciding factor, and the movie was done very well. There was no “over the top” Hollywood feel to it. It was simple, yet not. I’d suggest to all that it is worth seeing at least once.
The Social Network has finally come along and given our generation a decent movie to define our time. Jesse Eisenberg who plays Mark Zuckerberg has been in other impressive movies such as Zombieland, Adventureland, The Squid & the Whale, and The Emperor’s Club. Then we have Justin Timberlake portraying the little shit who is Sean Parker. Like he said in the movie, he did change the music industry without a doubt. Andrew Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin, Mark’s best friend and the economic backer for the beginnings of facebook. Not to sound corny but there is something my mom always tells me to remember and that is, money & power aren’t evil themselves but the love of money & power is evil. That is exactly what got in Zuckerberg’s way. He became power hungry, but the more power he gained the lower his approval rating became. The movie appropriately depicts the impact that these young men have had on social networking throughout the past five years. Not only is facebook widely used amongst teens and college students, but parents have also begun to sign up. They are reconnecting with high school friends, college, friends, and old neighborhood friends. Sadly our generation hasn’t offered many other significant contributions to the world, but facebook is definitely an enormous stepping-stone. The quote that defines Zuckerberg’s actions is from his “girlfriend” Erica, "You are going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole." 