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.

Kozaites: Social Network Review

David Fincher proved once again his superb skills as a film maker with this year’s ‘The Social Network’. Assisted by Aaron Sorkin’s script loosely based on the founding of the internet website Facebook and its sordid upbringing. At the center of the story is the morally ambiguous and socially awkward Mark Zuckerberg, who through the course of the film gains billions at the cost of friendship. At the end of the movie his stark loneliness accompanied by The Beatles song ‘Baby You’re a Rich Man’ is chilling and leaves you sympathizing with the tragic figure.
The method of story telling within the movie was extremely effective, concerning the flashback and non-linear narrative. Though despite this employment it is interesting to note that the film begins at the earliest part in the story (the breakup scene) and ends at the latest part of the story (final day of legal arbitration). The contrast of these two scenes also shows how Facebook has changed human interaction; in the world before Facebook you would go out for a beer with your friend, in the world with Facebook people hide behind computer screens.
Another strong suit in this movie was the strong acting from the relatively young cast. The fast paced dialogue in the first scene between Rooney Mara and Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake’s portrayal of paranoid and smarmy Sean Parker, as well as Andrew Garfield’s overall intensity all showcase the talents of these fine young performers.

Cardon - The Social Network

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."

Griffin: The Social Network

My preconceptions before viewing “The Social Network” (David Fincher 2010) were that it would be a highly paced, over-sexualized blockbuster with an overload of special effects, but it turned out to be none of those things. Rather, the film is an in-depth chronicle of the origins and development of Facebook, but more principally, the film is about the characters that created Facebook, fought over it, were changed by it or were destroyed in the process.

The story unfolds in Harvard dorm rooms of the co-founders, Eisenberg’s Mark Zuckerberg and Garfield’s Eduardo Saverin. These scenes make up the past tense as it were of the film, while extended deposition scenes make up the present and set up future events while exploring the conflicts set up in the dorm room days. Though the film portrays several years of events, the editing is clever and quick so the narrative never loses momentum or becomes too convoluted. Often, the film cuts back and forth between deposition scenes with aloof Zuckerberg or the haughty and stubborn Winklevoss twins and scenes where these very characters first met or are fighting, etc. So the technique of juxtaposing past and present and future events is one of the film’s key elements for establishing tension and suspense.

Another facet that lends “The Social Network” credibility is Aaron Sorkin’s adapted screenplay. As in his writing for “The West Wing”, the dialogue is quick, witty, sharp, sarcastic and comedic when necessary. The opening scene of the film is Zuckerberg and his girlfriend drinking at a college bar. Her unrequited love forms one of his key personal conflicts throughout the film, which grows into the notion that Zuckerberg is just a nerd who never had a real girlfriend and his invention of Facebook compensated for weakness he felt in himself. But the opening scene is a sprightly and sardonic exchange of words which embody Sorkin’s style and abilities. Having such a skilled writer of dialogue like Sorkin is critical for this movie because so much of it happens in boardrooms and over long wooden tables with lawyers.

Falanga, Social Network Review

The Social Network excelled in allowing the story arc to flow naturally while segmenting into different points of the whole story. We see the characters and their relationship with Zuckerberg at the end of the story which allows for suspense and interest into seeing how these relationships formed. As the film moved from court scenes to moments in the progression of Facebook, the audience is able to learn about the unfolding of the present situation, which is the lawsuits, while also seeing the forming and development of the actual Facebook site and how it came to be. The narrative was unorthodox but refreshing and insightful, this unique portrayal of the history of Facebook allowed for a dark tone in the ruining of friendships and loss of control from Zuckerberg. The character of Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Isenberg, was done very well, the large hint of confidence and also loneliness always resided and came off from his dialogue and mannerisms. The Winklevoss twins was done very well as they were played by two different actors, but re-digitized through CG into having the same facial feature to that of the actor Armie Hammer. The cinematography was also excellent as the lighting was dark and metaphorically portrayed how Zuckerberg would be feeling or how unease he was. The opening shot with Zuckerberg walking through campus was a great shot complete with dolly and crane shots for the overhead of Harvard, which didn’t let the production studios use as a set so they had to reconstruct it in a California studio back lot with the exemption of a few shots in which the lighting had to have been heavily manipulated in order to see Jesse along with the background at night. Whether the actual facts were portrayed accurately in the film is ambiguous, the purpose of a movie can be to take an idea and skew it to whatever the visionary would like it to be. The main ingredients of the lawsuits were there, the rest was all for drama and suspense which worked really well in the film. Another telling of the actual story would suffice in the form of a documentary; the viewer should know it is based on the facebook story but told with greater drama to be interesting. The filmmakers have all said the movie is based off of the main plot line. In all the film does a great job at portraying the main ideas and pushes behind facebook while keeping a high stake in drama and authenticity in the narrative style. For me this film entertained and gave key plot points in the actual facebook story while delivering a innovative, endearing, and visually unique experience on the screen.

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.

Himmelberg, "The Social Network" Review

Before going to see "The Social Network", I was excited and intrigued ,because I am an avid facebook user, but I didn't have any real expectations because I didn't know exactly what angle they were going to tell or what exactly it was going to be about; I simply knew it based on facebook. Though the movie is definitely an interesting topic for all ages, because facebook is such a huge part of our culture today, it is especially poignant to my generation. I think it would suffice to say that we are probably the primary users of facebook, so this movie really hits home for us.We have grown up in a new age of technology and watched it evolve before our eyes in the matter of only a decade. The internet being one of the leading technologies that has changed, Facebook especially. The only real worry I had before seeing it was that maybe it was a little to early to making a movie about facebook. A writer or story teller cannot fully and correctly tell a story until they are removed from the situation and have had time to reflect on it. Facebook is still a growing website and all the people that are depicted in the movie are still very much alive and young, so my only hesitation was that maybe the makers of this film had decided to make this movie too soon because the material was still very raw.

Overall I ended up really liking the movie. It was all about the creation and beginning of Facebook. What really caught my interest though was that instead of focusing solely on the company/website and it's formation, it focused on the people behind the company and all the conflicts that went on in order for facebook to be what it is today. The angle that they take, focusing on the people rather than the idea is great, because all humans can relate better to a story if they have felt a similar emotion and know what the characters are going through. It was also fun to hear the full background story behind the phenomenon that is facebook and by adding in the characters stories woven into the development of the company makes it more real for the audience. We see strong friendships, jealousy, deceit and love throughout the movie. All of these things are so perfectly portrayed to seem very juvenile and young, fitting Mark perfectly at that age. They portray Mark and his friends 20 year old minds, which probably had no idea that this small website they created just because it was "cool", would become sucha huge deal.

The other very interesting thing that the director does is that throughout the movie you go back and forth between the past and the present. To learn the full story of facebook you start out before the idea comes into Mark Zuckerburg's head, finding out the trigger that caused him to start thinking about Facebook. Then we flash to a deposition in the present, because Mark is being sued by two different people at the same time. So part of the movie is in a room asking questions about the lawsuit and the rest of the movie is in the past painting the picture scene by scene of how the company got started out of a Harvard University dorm room. By taking us back and forth we get more attached to the characters and find out more about them then we would have from simply seeing what they were like in the past. We also get a lot more movement, which keeps the audience watching and not getting bored. I think this style of film is very well done and suits its purpose perfectly.

There were only a few things that I came away from the movie thinking. First, it warned you about the internet and how easy it is to get information once it is put up there. It perfectly portray's the culture of our society today, we don't like actual interaction with people anymore, we'd rather talk to them on the computer and be able to look at them without the hassle of physically being with them(absolute laziness) One thing that the movie doesn't do that would have been useful is that it doesn't tell us what facebook is like today. Facebook has evolved incredably since the early 2000's ( which is where this movie is left off ). It would have really been interesting if they had, made a flash to the recent present and shown what facebook is like today. Another interesting thing that they could have done at the very end or during the credits would have been to put up real photos of the guys for their college days compared to now. All of the characters in the movie are real people so it would have been alot better if we go to see their real photos.

Villacreces: Social Network

The movie Social Network by the director David Fincher portrays the story behind the website that is part of almost everyone's life, Facebook. The story is presented in a different and creative way. The movie is basically how facebook started since Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates stated the site in the Harvard dorms, to the huge lawsuits the company goes through. How Fincher presents this story is the following. As the testimonies of how the idea of the facebook started to its developments, there is a flashback showing exactly what happened. The whole movie goes back and forth between testimonies and the past. This is interesting for the audience because it presents the different perspectives between the characters like the Winklevoss twins and Eduardo.

What is interesting about the narration and the perspective of the movie is that it doesn't presents Mark Zuckerberg's perspective or why he chooses to do what he does through out the movie. We just see the decisions he makes and how it affects the secondary characters and their feelings. We see what the Winklevoss' do, and what they feel and what they want to proof. We also see what Eduardo feels for being exiled format he company and just seen as a source of money for the company.

Another interesting feature of the film is the change in atmospheres and lighting through out the movie. The film starts in Harvard University. The lighting is gloomy and it seems you are in a place full of history and it takes place around the 1960's or 1950's. The reason why the setting looks like this is to present that Harvard is a place of history, learning and no party scene. This image of Harvard contrasts with California, Stanford, New York and the Facebook office. These other places have a more bright setting, people are having fun and living their own lives. The change in the atmosphere and lighting are clear and show a turning point in the movie.

Social Network is a good movie that presents the story of what happened in Facebook history. It presents an insight of the conflict that almost no one knows, and people now know what is behind the website that almost everyone is addicted to.