The Social Network 2010
This movie got all kinds of accolades when it came out. I think part of that is because Facebook is such an incredibly big phenomenon. People can feel a lot better about a kid becoming a billionaire if the kid is such a trainwreck that they still wouldn’t want to trade places with him. The idea of someone with almost no social graces whatsoever creating the world’s biggest online social network just has to work, right? But I wasn’t that crazy about The Social Network and I love hearing about how companies get started, especially technology companies. The problem is that at the heart of the movie there is this character, Mark Zuckerberg (I say character because the real Mark Zuckerberg can’t be as horrible as this guy), that is just extremely unlikable, and who throws one of his best friends under the bus to get control of Facebook.
Another reason I probably was not taken in by this movie is that Facebook does nothing for me. I tried it and dropped out of it quickly, so I’m not awed by the phenomenon being created in the movie. There were other social networks around before Facebook, so I’m not sure that Facebook was revolutionary so much as a better version of MySpace or some of the other precursors. In the movie we see Facebook becoming more popular (not really knowing why, just accepting it because everyone already knows what is, I guess) and a few features are mentioned, like relationship status or someone’s “wall".
It does give some insight into a world of computer programmers at Harvard and elsewhere looking to cash in quickly on the next billion dollar idea. And it is amazing that even today (well, seven years ago) someone can start something in their dorm room that can become such a giant success. And not just a flash-in-the-pan YouTube video, but a whole new phenomenon, even if I don’t see the point of it anymore than I do Twitter (a sequel?!).
The acting in this movie is only okay. Jesse Eisenberg is grating, not just as Zuckerberg, but in pretty much everything I’ve seen him in. He can talk really fast and enthusiastically and that’s about it. And the overpowering soundtrack draws too much attention to itself, frequently drowning out the dialog such that I had to turn on the closed captioning to hear what people were saying. Worst of all, Aaron Sorkin’s writing provides almost no sizzle, mainly because the movie focuses so much on plot points and having to explain some of the technology and business aspects of the story. It doesn’t help that it is a true story so Sorkin’s writing is very constrained despite the liberties taken with the characters and some facts.
Anyway, this is a good movie with some good insights into tech startups, but I wasn’t that crazy about it. I’d rather see more of the creative spark that made Facebook successful, or if they had a better conflict than muddled ownership of intellectual property brought out in conference room depositions that lead to out-of-court settlements.
I watched most of this movie again later and had a better appreciation of it. Once you get past the idea of the jerk becoming a billionaire, it actually does have some pretty good elements to it and the pace is pretty quick. So I am revising my score from a B to a B+.
Written: 16 Jul 2011
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital