Movie Madness: The Social Network

Hello, my name is Jen, and I'm a Facebook addict.

Actually, I wouldn't go quite that far, especially compared to most people. I have no problem going days without logging in. I don't post updates every 30 minutes to tell the world about what I'm eating or how I'm feeling. Usually when I'm online, I'm not even at my computer — it stays logged in on my phone all the time. Some nice things about Facebook: birthday reminders, keeping in touch with long-distance friends and being able to share news with people quickly. It is quite convenient for those purposes. However, that isn't what Facebook was originally intended to be, according to "The Social Network."

"The Social Network" follows Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) not only as he invents Facebook, but also as he becomes the youngest billionaire ever. But it's not without fights and lawsuits along the way. As the ad for "The Social Network" explains: "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies."

This movie is basically a dramatized reproduction of the actual events that transpired between Mark Zuckerberg and a variety of different people in his life. The other important role in this movie (and in real life) is Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield). For the sake of not ruining the movie for those who haven't seen it, I'll just say that Eduardo started out as Facebook's CFO and Zuckerberg's friend, but ends up betraying him a few times along the way (though Zuckerberg did his fair share of betraying as well). Also featured in this movie: Sean Parker (founder of Napster, played by Justin Timberlake) and Tyler & Cameron Winklevoss — the twins who sued Zuckerberg for intellectual property theft, claiming Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from them.

The entire story behind the development of Facebook is quite interesting. It was a fast-paced movie that shifted between the past and the present without compromising the integrity of the story. There were certain parts that didn't seem as necessary to the plot, but overall everything seemed to make sense and add to the movie in the right ways. I thought Jesse Eisenberg was a genius in his role — if Zuckerberg is truly the way Eisenberg portrayed him, I'd love to meet that guy someday. His character was intelligent, but to a fault — he often joked around at the expense of others and came across as condescending on more than a few occasions. He was sarcastic and blatant, refusing to sugar-coat anything. But he was also quite humorous at times. I liken his character to that of Hugh Laurie's "House" in that they're both too smart for their own good, and they don't let people forget how smart they are. Zuckerberg's character almost had an "invincible" tone, like the laws couldn't touch him or didn't apply to him because he was above it all. Obviously this mindset cost him many relationships (and a lot of money), but overall it didn't hinder his success. Aside from Eisenberg's acting, the only other stand-out star was Justin Timberlake. He brought some energy to the movie that it would have been lacking otherwise.

I wouldn't consider "The Social Network" to be one of my favorite movies of the year so far, but it was entertaining and interesting, and sometimes that's enough.

My Rating:

Stay Fabulous!