The Social Network – movie review

When I first heard about The Social Network, I wanted to know, “Who wants to watch a movie about Facebook?” When I found out it was actually about Mark Zuckerberg’s litigation problems, I thought it would be a very interesting movie. I wasn’t wrong, but it did still piss me off.

Once you get into The Social Network, the movie is just as addicting as the social networking site that the main character founded. I like that most of the story is told as flashbacks during the depositions of the characters involved in both Facebook lawsuits portrayed in the movie. There are many things that came up in the movie that I never knew, but now I want to research, such as Sean Parker’s involvement in Facebook. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. There were hints of trouble well before the trouble happened, but you just want to know how it’s going to play out.

It took a while to get into The Social Network because it took a long time to find a likable character. The character I liked the most in the movie was Eduardo Saverin, Facebook’s co-founder and former CFO. Eduardo is very sympathetic, and I think that Andrew Garfield did a great job playing him. He’s a good kid who truly just wants to help out his friend in what he thinks could be a great business venture, but gets completely screwed over. On top of that, his girlfriend is a complete psychopath. You want him to win his suit against Mark Zuckerberg.

Mark Zuckerberg is one of the least likable characters in the movie. Jesse Eisenberg did a great job portraying him, but the guy is a complete jerk. He has a superiority complex, he thinks he’s always right, and he screws over his own best friend and does so willingly. The only time you’re ever on his side is during his lawsuit against the Winklevoss twins, who claim they invented Facebook. Zuckerberg used none of their code, however, and his idea was better than theirs. However, you’re glad his girlfriend breaks up with him in the beginning of the movie, and you really do hope he gets sued at times.

The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, are without a doubt the least likable characters in the movie. They have a complete sense of entitlement that they are even called out on in the movie. Their idea for The Harvard Connection, from my point of view, wasn’t really that much like Facebook. It was to be a Harvard-exclusive match.com, whereas Facebook was more based on two other ideas – the fact that Harvard did not have a centralized Facebook, and a site launched by Zuckerberg in the beginning of the movie that cemented the fact that people like seeing people they know online. However, the Winklevoss twins were competitive and do not like losing, so they pursued the lawsuit anyway.

Justin Timberlake surprised me with his performance as Sean Parker, founder of Napster and eventual partner of Mark Zuckerberg.  Eduardo knew from the moment he met Sean that Sean could be no good for Facebook, but Mark didn’t see it.  Sean Parker is a complete wild card.  He has good ideas, but he is insane and has just as many bad ones.  He is charming, and it’s very easy to see why somebody would want to do as he said, but once Eduardo points out Sean’s flaws, it’s very hard to trust him.

The ending of The Social Network really gets under my skin. It’s too abrupt. The solution to the cases are written on screen instead of being portrayed, and the story doesn’t feel complete. Despite the movie being two hours long, it didn’t feel it, and I wanted to keep going. I feel like we, as an audience, at least deserve the courtesy of being able to see how things turned out – film is a visual medium, and we didn’t get the ending to the story actually being told.

The Social Network is a very interesting movie that can spark an interest in learning about Facebook’s actual beginnings. I know that I would like to learn how much of the movie is true compared to how much of it was dramatized. It is a good movie in that it grabs your interest and carries it throughout the movie, but if you expected something like a less creepy ending that actually tied up the storyline, you might be a little miffed.