RANT: There are so many movies to see that I do not have any time between films to even come up with a rant. Sorry, maybe next time.
Aaron Sorkin writes and David Fincher directs “The Social Network” based on the book, “The Accidental Billionaires”. The movie deals with the development, launch and success of the social network, Facebook.com, as well as the betrayals, backstabbing, and litigation that occurred along the way.
After his girlfriend Erica breaks up with him, a drunken Mark blogs about the experience and decides to take his mind off of her by creating a face match site where all of the Harvard girls with Harvard house photos are displayed two at a time side-by-side in a “Who Is Hotter?” poll. Writing the code in a few hours, and taking down the Harvard servers a couple hours after the site’s launch, Mark is put in front of the academic board and put on 6-month probation. He draws the attention of the Winklevoss twins with the idea to create a Harvard community site that touts exclusivity to its members. Realizing that he can create a site far superior, Mark goes to his friend Eduardo for money to get his own site running, all the while alleged that he never intended to build the Harvard Community site. TheFacebook.com becomes a hit and launches to colleges around the country, and eventually internationally.
The story is told through a series of flashbacks as Zuckerberg sits in two separate depositions, one against his former best friend and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, the other against the Winklevoss twins from Harvard who allege Zuckerberg stole their intellectual property for the Facebook concept. The flashback concept is a little disorienting at first, but it quickly works itself out as a slick way to tell the tale. Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg with genius level emotional detachment and, ironically, social ineptitude. Andrew Garfield plays Zuckerberg’s supportive friend and business partner, Eduardo Saverin, as if he was truly Zuckerberg’s only friend. Justin Timberlake gains even more acting cred after “Alpha Dog” as Napster founder and eventual Facebook.com partner, Sean Parker. Armie Hammer plays double duty as both Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, with help from Josh Pence from the chest down. Everyone delivers in this film, from Eisenberg’s speed monologues, stoic posture and biting sarcasm to Timberlake’s party pace and paranoia.
Who would have thought that a movie about the development of Facebook.com would be interesting? I certainly did not. But the pace and structure of the film, plus the acting by all involved kept me interested. Now, if I only had a Facebook account so I could tell all of my friends!
Worth: Matinee and DVD
I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment