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The Social Network tells the apparent origin and development of the social networking Internet site 'Facebook', and it's forthcoming rise to becoming the most used social network on the Internet from the point of view of one of the co-creators, Eduardo Saverin (played by "Future-Spiderman" Andrew Garfield). It is told mainly in flashbacks, from the testimonies of Saverin and the 'mind behind Facebook', Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg), during their court case over Saverin's treatment towards the end of working with Zuckerberg.
Like I said, the film is very well put-together, if a little hard-to-follow sometimes. The opening scene depicts Zuckerberg in a conversation with his then-girlfriend (Rooney Mara), which results in the Facebook-ball rolling. Despite it being an effective catalyst for the rest of the film, the pace of their conversation is very quick and the vocabulary is quite extravagant, serving as a perfect introduction to the film and presenting the message loud and clear: You had better keep up, as we are not slowing down.
The montages of the meticulous and complicated creation of websites are intentionally skimmed through, with Eisenberg barely taking breaths between voice-overs as if you have heard this all before. This gives it the essence of superiority and intelligence which I felt the subject matter needed, however the best one-liners and verbal altercations of the script aren't given chance to sink in with the audience, and whilst you laugh or think about what has just been said, you miss something even better following up. It's pace is it's advantage and downfall.
Whilst the screenwriter Aaron Sorkin continues his trend of writing entertaining and smart scripts, the only problem is the level of authenticity. Since no Facebook staff, or even Zuckerberg, helped Sorkin with the history of the company, the only inspiration was Eduardo Saverin's recollection, which I feel may assisted in Sorkin portraying Zuckerberg and others in a bad light. Therefore are the portrayals of Zuckerberg, or Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake) how they really acted? Or did Eduardo want them shown like that to get the audience on his side?
Regardless, the main cast definitely do justice to the screenplay, with the partnership of the best friends Eisenberg and Garfield being the core. Since they both are virtual unknowns to Hollywood, it shows great faith in David Fincher to cast them, but I feel that they reward that faith handsomely.
Another big plus is the film's soundtrack. As a fan of Trent Reznor, I found his and Atticus Ross' score very well-suited to the film, and incredibly interactive... so much so that I am listening to some of the songs whilst writing this review.
Again, I appreciate the level of intelligence Fincher uses in approaching the film's subject matter and I believe it makes the potentially boring story of Facebook's origins very intriguing and watchable.
However, The Social Network isn't for everyone. The typical Facebook user will probably find the storyline lacking in high concept ideas, the pacing too fast to keep up with, and the special effects of the Winklevoss Twins wasted when they could have been used on explosions and prat falls. All with 'lolz' here and 'gr8's there.
Sigh. It is what Zuckerberg would have wanted after all.
Rating - 9/10
