Malveaux - Social Network Review

Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network was an interesting film, to say the least. When first viewing the trailer for the film, I was very skeptical. I saw a movie primarily telling the story of how Facebook, a social website where people created profiles for themselves, had been created. My immediate reaction was how would a film about social media be even remotely interesting, let alone good. As the film showed in theaters, many critics gave the film very positive reviews saying that the direction in which David Fincher took, the script, and performances of both Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenburg were exceptional. After watching The Social Network, I would agree. Although the film tells the story of how Facebook came to be, the film explores much more than that. It can be argued that the movie isn't so much about the social website itself, rather the primary focus is the conflicts and relationships between Zuckerberg, his best friend Eduardo, Sean Parker, and the Winklevoss twins who are suing him. Facebook is simply the vehicle by which Sorkin and Fincher drive the story. Through these relationships, the film is able to show how important these interactions are to understanding the development of Facebook.

There are plenty of areas where the film excels. Some of those include the intelligent, yet witty dialogue between the characters, the superb casting of Eisenburg, Timberlake, and Andrew Garfield, and the development of the story. One aspect of the film that in my opinion is the most exceptional is the directing job done by Fincher. All throughout the film, the story is told in flashbacks from Facebook's inception all the way to its progression as a fully functioning website and both separate lawsuits that followed. Fincher showed the scenes from the lawsuits, the present situation, while flashing back to all the moments that caused the two lawsuits against Zuckerberg. This is where the movie shined because it kept the movie entertaining and fresh while telling the story in its entirety. Overall, whether you have a Facebook page or not or have any interest in the story behind the website itself, this is a must-see for viewers in 2010. The exceptional directing and acting alone is enough reason to see this movie; the story behind a website that you probably use to socialize with friends is just the icing on the cake.

Hutchinson - The Social Network

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.

Fisher: The Social Network

I had no intention of seeing this film in theaters and was expecting it to be a bust, simply because I was cynical of a movie whose main storyline is derived from Facebook; the ultimate societal conformist's internet outlet since it went public in March 2009.   I have confidence in David Fincher as a director; him being responsible for movies like Fight Club, Se7en, and Zodiac.  So I was expecting something stable in terms of plot, character, and story development.  I was not disappointed by the solid and comprehensive narrative arc presented by Fincher.  As for my expectations in terms of acting, the only recognizable names/faces too me were Jesse Eisenburg as Mark Zuckerburg and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker.  I was skeptical of these actors performances due to their limited resumes and my unfamiliarity with their work.  However, I had seen Zombieland and Alpha Dog so my hopes for an adequate performance were not completely dashed.

This films best feature was the way the ties between the people were presented.  The entire picture focuses completely on the interpersonal relationships between the main and supporting characters.  All of the the shots in this film are close to medium range in order to emphasize the idea to focus on the characters and how they act and emote in each scene/situation. It is interesting to note that throughout the film, they make Mark out to not care for his friends and is simply focused on realizing his idea of Facebook.  While this may or may not be the truth of the endeavor, they choose to cast Zuckerberg in that light.  This dramatically alters the view of the those watching.  It causes them to sympathize more with the people that he had to step over and sheds light on their struggle that was overcast by the ingenuity of Zuckerberg.  In fact, I go could so far to say that this film is promoting that lying, cheating, and stealing; as long as you get to the top first, is favorable and is a strategy used by those with initiative.  We see this in the film as he takes the original idea from the "Winklevi" as Mark calls them, kicks his best friend and co-founder out of the company, and get away with it. America, F*** Yeah.