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Nordling's THE SOCIAL NETWORK review

Published at: Sept. 24, 2010, 11:08 a.m. CST


Whoever coined the phrase “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” should have added an addendum: “Scorn a dude, and he builds the railroads.” In the opening scene of THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is going through a break-up with his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) that catches him completely off guard. He’s miles ahead of her in the conversation, and she’s struggling to keep up; not because she’s not intelligent, but because Mark couldn’t care less. He’s narcissistic to a fault, and she ends the relationship with the line, “You’re going to go through life believing 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’s not true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole.” The break-up devastates Zuckerberg, but we’re never sure if it’s because he genuinely cares for Erica or just if his ego can’t take the rejection. It’s the most important scene in this brilliant film because it sets up what follows: Zuckerberg, in a drunken rage, blogs about the break-up and then hacks into the various houses on Harvard campus and posts pictures of their female members to be judged by the rest of the student body. Dubbed Facemash.com, it gets the attention of everyone, including the Winklevoss twins, Tyler and Cameron (Armie Hammer, with a body double for Tyler by Josh Pence) and their business partner Diyva Narendra (Max Mingella). They have an idea for a network for Harvard students, but when Mark hears about it, he sees the potential for something more, something bigger. So, with the help of his best friend Eduardo Severin (Andrew Garfield), who has the money and the connections on campus, Zuckerberg decides to create the ultimate social network, to encapsulate the college experience, and runs with it. Other people and groupies begin to enter Zuckerberg’s orbit, including Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), inventor of Napster and now entrepreneur, with his connections in Silicon Valley. And as the Facebook becomes more popular throughout college campuses across the United States, Zuckerberg begins to test the relationships around him – of his best friend, and of the Winklevoss twins (at one point he derisively calls them “Winklevi”). This is all going to end with lawyers, billions of dollars, and the invention of what’s probably considered the largest social network on the Internet. When the trailers for this film debuted, most people wrote this film off. “That Facebook movie,” as it was called, didn’t seem like interesting subject matter, as if the film would just be a bunch of nerds sweating over their laptops. But THE SOCIAL NETWORK is so much more than that: it’s a snapshot in time, of the years in the Aughts, and even now, where an idea well executed could reap dividends beyond your wildest imaginations, as long as you got there first. It reminded me, oddly enough, of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, as a moment in time perfectly captured by David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’s amazing script, where each word is a perfect pearl from an oyster. I can’t stress enough how great this script is: it’s got cadence, wit, and from the opening scene it expects the audience to keep up with the turns of the plot and the characters. I miss being treated like a grown-up in the movies, and this film does exactly that. Fincher’s direction feels almost effortless, a confident film by a master filmmaker at the height of his game. I can’t say whether or not this is his best film because I don’t know what impact this film will have on those who watch it. When FIGHT CLUB became the rage it took a while to set in as well, although most people wildly misinterpreted that film. What I can say is that he’s made a film here that has no wasted scenes, that has incredible acting, and that moves like a high-speed train without a dull moment. Jesse Eisenberg should be recognized for his work here. His Zuckerberg is all armored up, but the cracks in the façade show the wounded man beneath. It’s because of his work here that the film is getting comparisons to CITIZEN KANE – we’re constantly looking for what drives him, what motivates him, and Eisenberg never quite lets us see what’s behind the curtain except at key points in the film. Andrew Garfield should put to ease any trepidation fans have about him playing Spider-Man. He’s wounded as well, from a trust betrayed and a friendship lost. Justin Timberlake digs into Sean Parker with relish; I imagine it must have been a particular joy for him to play the man who defanged the music industry as an unrepentant scumbag. There’s not one bad performance here at all, in fact – you’d think that the casting of Armie Hammer to play both roles of the Winklevoss twins would be some kind of trick, but you forget about the special effects of it all in less than a second after they take the screen. Don’t let the subject matter dissuade you from seeing this. It’s rare you get to see a classic film moment as its happening. THE SOCIAL NETWORK is an important film, a funny film, an entertaining film, and it’s not nearly as much work as you might think it is. Comparisons to other classic films are, in their way, pointless – THE SOCIAL NETWORK is very much a film of its time and it has captured a moment of history – that happy accident when the power of creativity met the ambitions of a man who wanted nothing more than for a girl to like him. - Nordling

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