The Story Behind Facebook: The Social Network - Movie Review

The Social Network

Director: David Fincher

Year: 2010

Country: USA

Facebook is probably the world's biggest running social network in these moments. It has a bigger member base than any other socializing website and it is continuosly growing on popularity. But with Facebook it is not all hearts and butterflies, as there is a very dark and intriguing story behind its creation. And while this film shows a partly fictionalized version of said story, it pretty much gives a good idea of how it went. But the movie is not a simple docu-drama that tries to instruct the viewers of the rise of the biggest social engine, it is also a very well constructed, highly enteratining and frankly, one of the best movies, not only of this year, but of the past 10 or probably 20, becoming the movie that defines the generation of internet.

The plot, as many of you know, is the following: in 2003, Mark Zuckerberg was a simple but genius geek attending Harvard trying to get the attention of the clubs. On one night, after his girlfriend broke up with him, he started a small web page used to rate pictures of the girls attending Harvard. It quickly became popular, receiving 22.000 hits in four hours. But he had troubles with this, so it had to be shut down. But the Winklevoss twins, a pair of athletic and wealthy brothers seeking for a breakthrough for their project, notice Zuckerberg and want him to help them with this little project. But while he was "helping them", he was developing a little project of his own, which quickly grew into becoming the giant social network millions of users log in everyday that we call Facebook. But along the way of its growth, Zuckerberg had to face many challenges, including two lawsuits, one by the Winklevoss twins and one by his best friend, Eduardo Saverin. As the poster of the film reads: You can't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.

What is the best movie of the year, what it is likely to steal the show at the next Academy Awards, and what is probably the movie to define this present generation, was masterfully delivered to us, the audience, by its wonderful cast and crew. If it wasn't for them, the film would have probably been a simple boring documentary on economics, but thanks to likeable performances, flawless writing and perfect direction, also mentioning technical details like breathtaking editing and astounding music, The Social Network has become an event.

David Fincher, who has delivered to us films like Fight Club, Zodiac and Seven, has now achieved his masterpiece with this. He certainly deservesa nod at next year's Oscars, and in my book, a win. He gets his actors to do the best of themselves, and he captures them in all his glory. He also sets up the dark but still funny mood for the film, and the low lightening and great cinematography are also fantastic. But all this is fantastically edited, making the film a more pleasing visual expierence, without taking the substance out of the film. Fincher's direction has always been excellent, but with this film he achieved perfection, making it not only his best film but the film he will be remembered by in the future.

But what would be Fincher without his actors? Jesse Eisenberg, who plays the genius Mark Zuckerberg, has exceeded expectations and has played to perfection his role. He's perfectly fitting making it easier for him to become Zuckerberg, and, even though I promised to myself not to mention this in my review, he has beaten Michael Cera by stepping out of his usual character, though not into too far ground, and making a different movie. I really think he deserves to be nominated for an Oscar. Also, in the acting highlights is Andrew Garfield, playing Eduardo Saverin, Mark's best and only friend. He is probably the most sympatethic charater in the film, making the audience feel sorry for him. He also gets ahold of his character, making him his and he becoming part of his character. Another actor deserving to be mentioned is Justin Timberblake, surprisingly in a great performance, as the wild and partying Sean Parker. He was a surprise, a wild card, and yet he was amazing. It was a pleasure to see him perform in every scene he was in. Other actors deserving praise are Armie Hammer as both the Winklevoss twins, Brenda Song as Eduardo's girlfriend Christy Lee, and in also a surprising good role Rooney Mara, who early in this year gave a shameful performance in the equally shameful remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Now I'm having more hopes for the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, in which she will be playing Lisbeth Salader.

But the one deserving all the praise and acclaim screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. His screenplay is probably the best of the year. He delivers smart and charismathic dialogues, funny and sad situations and very amusing and interesting characters, with certain charms of its own too. He is most likely to win Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars and Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes. I think his screenplay was so wonderful that many of the dialogues in the film may go down in my list as some of the best in 2010, and I even go further into saying that it may be one of the funniest films of the year, even if it wasn't a comedy. And achieving that is something that I respect in a screenwriter. So, Aaron Sorkin, you're the true hero of this film. Its power lies in the writing.

But the film is also socially important. It tells the story of one of the most visited sites on the internet, and it does it so well that it becomes a film that people at almost any age can enjoy (though maybe for kids younger than 10-11 it may not be appropiate). It is like All the President's Men at its time, only more fun and amusing.

The Social Network is a masterpiece, not only for Fincher, not only for the year, but for the generation. It is one of the best movies to have come out in the past two decades, and it definitely is the best of this year. I see a big bag full of gold in next February, more specifically, Oscar night.

My recommendation: High

My score: A perfect 100 (this is the first film of the year that I have given this rating, and the only one I have given it (chronologically) since 2007's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which also has decreased a little bit since I saw it).

So, ladies and gentlemen, you are before, without a doubt, the best movie of the year.