Steve Reviews The Social Network

With only 7 weeks left in 2010, The Social Network remains my pick for Best Picture of the year.

I’m a Facebook guy. I’m actually logged in right now, and I just accepted a friend request.

When I first saw a trailer for “The Facebook Movie,” I wondered how they were going to pull it off. I mean, how were they going to have enough to say about this website to keep me interested for 2 hours?

Perhaps I underestimated the abilities of David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin.

The Social Network is a fantastic piece of film-making.

It’s essentially the story of 19 year old Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg, and his attempt at doing something important. After a night of drinking and being dumped, Zuckerberg, played brilliantly by Jesse Eisenberg, goes back to his dorm room and creates a website that, by the next morning, has all of Harvard talking. His arrogance and intelligence allow him to create another website over the next few weeks. That website is Facebook. Eight years later, Facebook has half a Billion (with a B) members, and Zuckerberg is worth 6 Billion (also with a B) dollars.

The movie is told in flashback form, through legal testimony in 2 lawsuits filed against Zuckerberg by other people who claim to have been screwed by him.

I want to start with Aaron Sorkin. You may best know him as “The guy who wrote The West Wing.” Yes, he’s a TV guy. That must mean he can’t write a screenplay, right? Wrong.

The very first scene in the film is 10 minutes of dialogue. By the time that first scene was over, I predicted that Sorkin would earn a nomination for the Adapted Screenplay Oscar (the movie is actually based on a book called The Accidental Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich). I was so impressed by the strength of the dialogue in the movie, that by the time it was over, I changed my mind. Not only would he be nominated, he would win. I stand by that today.

Jesse Eisenberg has, far and away, outdone himself. The typecast teen of Adventureland and Zombieland has now proved that he is worthy of sitting at the adult table. I think this could be a life-changer for Jesse, and I expect him to be nominated in the Best Actor category.

The supporting actors in this film could make an appearance on the ballot too. Justin Timberlake, playing Napster-creator-turned-Facebook-investor, Sean Parker was pretty good. Andrew Garfield plays Mark’s best friend, who is one of the people suing him. And then there is Armie Hammer (great grandson of Armand Hammer) who plays 2 TWINS in the film. Yes, he plays both roles – and he is fantastic.

Finally, David Fincher, known for directing films like Se7en and Zodiac, was the glue that held this film together. His vision made for a wonderfully told tale of greed, backstabbing, computer hacking, and intellectual property lawsuits that is so much more than just “The Facebook Movie.” Bravo, I say. This is the one to beat.

-Steve
11.10.2010