The Social Network: Is Mark Zuckerberg's status worth our attention?

Plot:

In 2003 computer whiz kid Mark Zuckerberg started a social networking website that would revolutionise the way the world communicates.  Six years later he had made his first million. However, Zuckerberg soon found himself in legal disputes, as he discovered that many of the 500 million people he had ‘friended’ were waiting to see him fall.

The main aim of a site like Facebook is to communicate with your real friends via the virtual medium of the internet. Right from the beginning of The Social Network, we are shown countless times that the creator Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is a social-misfit. From the very start, we see his inadequacies towards girls, his best friend Eduardo Saverin, and life in general. The first scene shows that having a 'normal' conversation with Zuckerberg is excruciating and five minutes in, you are praying that he isn't going to act like that throughout the whole film as he is so awkward and so crude that you might actually have to leave the cinema. 

Luckily, the narrative of the film distracts from his incredulously painful personality and you actually become hooked on the story. It entices you in, and you can't take your eyes off it. In the first twenty minutes we see Zuckerberg as a twisted individual who actually got initial recognition for creating a college site in which girls are rated by other students on their looks. This all stems from Zuckerberg seeking revenge on a girl for dumping him. Our opinion on Zuckerberg changes throughout the film, this is prompted by the arrival of Sean Parker, founder of Napster and played by Justin Timberlake. The performances of Timberlake and Andrew Garfield (Saverin) are solid and Garfield even outshines central performer Jesse Eisenberg at times. 

The film is directed by David Fincher and it is worth noting that the film bears no resemblance to Seven, Fight Club or Panic Room. It seems as though Fincher hasn't completely stamped his mark on the film and he has let the material flourish. This actually carries the film, the dialogue is second to none and you would expect nothing less from Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and there is nothing fancy, dark or edgy in the directorial style. The fact that Fincher has stepped back and concentrated on the material compliments the film perfectly. 

There are elements that seem baggy on occasion and others that just don't really work, like the addition of Saverin's manic girlfriend. However, the film makes up for it, the plot is completely coherent and the transitions between dorm-room nerds typing away to the two simultaneous lawsuits against Zuckerberg are very smoothly done. Also what is key to the film working is that Sorkin has taken a neutral viewpoint, the film is not biased in any shape or form and we see the good and the bad sides of the trio of main characters. 

What I feel the audience gets out of the film is a completely riveting story of a friendship that goes horribly wrong and the sense that we really know Zuckerberg. At the same time, it seems the only person who really understands Mark Zuckerberg is Mark Zuckerberg.

5/5