Bowery Mural

The Social Network

Sunday 10 October 2010

Here goes. My review of The Social Network.

Just got in from the cinema where I went to see this much talked about movie. First off if you think you're gonna hear that wonderful Scala version of Radiohead's Creep you're not. Not that I heard anyways. First off the casting is excellent. Jesse Eisenbergs's awkward (slightly autistic?) Adidas flip flop wearing genius Zuckerberg is brilliant. I think he plays a lost soul, a social misfit but ultimately I was left with the impression that he's a decent guy with a big heart for whom money is not the real motivation. All he wants is the girl to accept his friend request (Don't we all?)


Justin Timerblake's Sean Parker of Napster fame is perfect. I didn't really know that whole back-story... you know the 'what happened after Napster' story. But Justin gets the somewhat dodgy character of 'Sean' down to a tee. Andrew Garfield plays the CFO Eduardo Saverin. The money man behind The Facebook.The wronged best friend. And Rooney Mara plays Erica. The girl Mark wants to be his friend on Facebook. Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss are great characters. I have to say in real life these are people I like to see fall on their faces. People who think they have influence just because they have money (old money?), or rather the parents have. Vile.

The script is sharp and has some great lines. But some of the best bits come during the opening exchange between Mark and Erika in a Boston bar. It gets a bit complicated but i think this sets us up with an understanding of what's going on inside the head of Mark Zuckerberg. I noted a few lines down during the movie... "A guy who's built a chair doesn't owe money to everyone who's ever built a chair", "The ability to make money doesn't impress anyone around here" and one of my faves "The internet's not written in pencil Mark. It's written in ink".

David Fincher's direction is fab. It's funny I watched Fight Club again not so long ago and this is just as good. For a film centred around a computer geek, that is! And I like that the geek has been made a baddie, easily led, a genius, but mostly at heart a good person. I mean he refused to monetise the site early on when Eduardo was pushing for it. I've heard reports of the movie portraying Zuckerberg badly but I didn't think so. Did I miss the point? I actually felt a bit sorry for him. He seemed a bit socially awkward (I can relate to that!) and a is bit quirky looking (ditto!). I liked that he wanted to get the attention of the Harvard clubs but never really wanted to join them. The film jumps from past to present (well as much as you can jump from past to present in the space of 6 years), from Harvard to lawyers offices, to Facebook offices in San Francisco. There is a scene in particular where the Winkelvoss' lawyer asks Mark if he has his full attention... then replies. I liked that one a lot.

But I don't want to say too much and I'll let you be the judge of the movie yourselves but overall i liked it. It made you think about the whole phenomenon that is the internet and social site such as The Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and the rest. Sometimes we think they just appear and pop up and you log on and you dabble or you get hooked, for a little while at least and you tend to forget that these are passions of people (perhaps geeks), they spend months taking snippets of ideas and turning them into something... well massive!! And it wasn't even that long ago, 2004. This world is changing fast and it's all down to guys like Zuckerberg. Ask yourself where would we be without sites such as Facebook or even Twitter. *shudder* I can't even bear that thought.

In summary Jesse Eisneberg definitely steals the show with his genius Zuckerberg. But i think Facebook will be a winner too. Say what you want, I bet there are millions around the world who wished they'd thought of that idea. I know I would! One day...  Go along to see this film. I liked it a lot x 500 million!

One last line that I loved... "I'm an entrepreneur" "A what?" "An entrepreneur" "...so you're unemployed". 
Now, go on and tell me...  What's on your mind?



Ange x

PS Dear Mark Zuckerberg, I'll accept your friend request. The End.



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