The Social Network review

The Social Network is Scarface with nerds. It’s Citizen Kane of new media. It’s the Network of the net.

Okay, okay, hyperbole aside, The Social Network is a phenomenal film. Not only is it outrageously entertaining – wittier than most comedies and more exciting than most thrillers – it’s astoundingly topical. While Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps suffered for trying to cover too many newsworthy issues (subprime mortgages, the financial meltdown, political blogging and more!), The Social Network uses the story of Facebook as a vehicle that allows for the seamless discussion of various themes (both modern and eternal); the rise of the nerd through the net, the petty jealousies and immaturity of those given too much too young, the price of honour and loyalty, how much one can sacrifice for success, the cruelty of social hierarchy, how social interaction went through a sea change in recent years and, perhaps most of all, the power of a good idea and how some can capitalise on a nascent technology.

Told in an extended flashback framed by two depositions, it covers the birth of Facebook mostly through the eyes of Mark Zuckerbeg (a perfectly cast Jesse Eisenberg). As you may know, while Facebook accumulated users and success (initially as a site just for Harvard students) Zuckerberg left a string of dissatisfied collaborators in his wake, including best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) who financed it in the beginning, and a pair of ambitious identical twins in Harvard, the Winkelvoss brothers, who claim that Zuckerberg stole his idea.



Everyone is on top form here, and some are doing the best work of their career. Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, A Few Good Men) is clearly a gifted writer but his dialogue often feels contrived, like it was written to sound snappy instead of believable. Here however, only Zuckerberg speaks in that rat-a-tat trivia-choked clever-clever dialogue. Yes, one-liners are generously peppered through the well-researched screenplay for The Social Network, but unlike some of Sorkin’s scripts, each major character here has a clear and distinct voice, presence and motive.

David Fincher is also enjoying a return to form here. The director’s previous film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, was easily his worst – ponderous, slothful, pretentious, self-important and ultimately meaningless. His direction of The Social Network (like his work in the underrated Zodiac) is meticulous, confident and stylish, but never too stylised.

The Social Network is my favourite kind of film: It shows that a movie can be deliriously entertaining, but also smart and meaningful. Go see it!