I watched "The Social Network" last night and boy did it lived up to the expectations and the positive buzz. Like most people, I was not really excited for it at first because well it is a Facebook movie and who in the world wants to see that? I was totally wrong when I found out who were behind it, which are David Fincher (director) and Aaron Sorkin (screenwriter) considering their pedigree of movies they worked on. Its also worth mentioning that the cast is pretty good for the most part as I didn't have any glaring issues with them. Anyway, it is based by a book called "The Accidental Billionaires," so it is pretty much a loose tale of how Facebook was born and became what it is today. It does seem crazy that the popular site had a bumpy road before getting 500 million friends and eventually became a movie, but the movie-ish part actually worked out after all. Who of thought that Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook creator played by Jesse Eisenberg was that really a jerk yet a genius at the same time. He does seem like one of those guys that are all that intellectually and yet he has a tough time being a person with a heart. It seems to be the case where his mindset is the company first and everyone else second betraying those he trusted the most, which is his best friend, Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield, to get where he is today being the youngest billionaire out there. The theme pretty much fits the movie as you can't get 500 million friends without making a few enemies.
Making something as successful as Facebook does come with a price, which is the case how "The Social Network" is all about. It is actually cool to see the whole process go down of how Facebook was able to be the juggernaut it is today from the dorm room to its offices at Palo Alto, California. What makes the movie that good though is how nicely put together it was from the pacing, the tone, how the setting was perfectly nailed down (being that it took place in 2003-2004) and more. IGN actually said it right that this movie is very Rashomon-y (shout out to my philosophy friends with that reference) in terms of how scenes played out going back and forth between the past and present of that movie. In other words, when the legal discussions were rolling out between Zuckerberg, Saverin, and the Winklevoss brothers, they go back and forth telling the stories on how it all went down. It is also pretty crazy how prior experience from a company that used to have it all to have a big role on the rise of Facebook with Sean Parker (co-creator of Napster played by Justin Timberlake). Actually, I gotta hand it to Justin as this is his biggest acting role yet and handled it pretty well. I didn't expect him to be great of an actor, but he proved me wrong. It is also worth mentioning Rashida Jones (the main chick from I Love You Man) and Brenda Song (yeah that Brenda Song) are also in this movie as they played their parts well for the most part. In addition, the theatrical score is also one of the best things in this movie by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross as the movie gets all moody at times and Nine Inch Nails-like music is spot on for it.
In a nutshell, "The Social Network" is that good of a movie from every end. Fincher and Sorkin pretty much nailed the Facebook story at all angles (of course not all of it is true being based on a book that also told the tale loosely) making as movie-ish as they can to make it feel like a movie that has protagonists, antagonists, and whatnot. The college lifestyle at the time the movie was taking place was also spot-on being 2003 and 2004 as I noticed little details that made me laugh and smile. There are also funny moments in this film as Zuckerberg had some funny lines, but the Winklevoss brothers had most of those moments being that they were twins too. I highly recommend watching this film as soon as possible as it is one of my favorite movies of the year and highly up in the ranks with "Inception." In the meantime, let's do the "Power clap" since that Kanye song is also perfect in the commercials for this movie.
