The Social Network - 4 smiles

I find it interesting – and ironic – that Facebook claims to promote social interaction while it really promotes social isolation and that the founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is uncommunicative, intellectually arrogant and socially awkward. I know that a movie based on actual events doesn’t mean that it’s always true and that Zuckerberg claims the movie is fiction. Nonetheless, the source material for “The Social Network” is Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires, which is based on countless interviews and the story is probably a reasonable account of how Facebook came into being. Zuckerberg is presented as a multi-faceted individual and Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal is sympathetic and fair. Director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin do not shy away from an honest look at Zuckerberg and the damage he has done to others, but they resist portraying him as totally evil. Sorkin’s screenplay mixes drama and humorous sections with dialogue that’s sharp and witty. “The Social Network” raises interesting questions such as ownership of an idea, but this movie is engaging because, at its heart, it’s about friendship and betrayal.

The movie opens with Harvard student Zuckerberg having dinner with his girlfriend, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). Erica, weary of his obsession with status, breaks up with him, which angers him. He returns to his dorm room, gets drunk and with the help of his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), creates a website called ‘Facemash’ that rates the hotness of Harvard women. The site is so popular that it crashes the Harvard servers. Along with earning Zuckerberg six months of academic probation, Facemash earns him instant celebrity status. He is sought by twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Josh Pence and Armie Hammer) to design a dating website. Instead, however, Zuckerberg takes their idea in another direction and, in the process, cuts them out altogether. ‘The Facebook’ is born, becoming a huge hit on the Harvard campus and expanding to other high prestige schools. Napster creator, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), wants to get in on the inside, but his involvement alienates Eduardo. At Parker’s suggestion, Zuckerberg changes the name to Facebook and with Parker's help, Facebook becomes a worldwide phenomenon. “The Social Network” is structured as a series of flashbacks provided to illustrate the testimony being given in depositions for two separate trials in which Zuckerberg was involved in the second half of the 2000s. This movie is the first drama that has 2010 Oscar potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor. 10/1/10