Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that
would become known as Facebook, but is later sued by two brothers who
claimed he stole their idea, and the cofounder who was later squeezed
out of the business.
Director:
David Fincher
Writers: Aaron Sorkin (screenplay),
Ben Mezrich (book)
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg,
Andrew Garfield,
Justin Timberlake
Storyline
On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming
genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins
working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what
begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a
revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends
later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for
this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal
complications
Movie Reviews
I
just want to get this out there right away and put the cards on the
table so to speak: When I first heard about it, I had very little faith
in this project. I was stupefied, confused by the thought of what
attracted all this talent to this seemingly trivial story to begin with?
Why would David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin possibly be interested in the
story of the founding of Facebook? Surely they could have found
something more important, more meaningful to apply their efforts to.
After seeing the film, though, I realized that, of course, Fincher and
Sorkin knew what they were doing all along. And furthermore that
labeling this as "The Facebook movie" is really an insult to what Sorkin
and Fincher were trying to and have succeeded in achieving with this
film.
First and foremost, I have to take a step back and admire
this film as a technical achievement. Despite seeming to be a departure
for Fincher in terms of content and subject matter – which it is and
then again isn't – the film is very clearly and undeniably a Fincher
film. Re-teaming with his Fight Club director of photography Jeff
Cronenweth, Fincher manages to create and capture that really unique
look all of his films have. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous –
once again, Fincher proves that he is probably getting the best results
in digital photography out of any other director working in that medium,
and this film, shot on the RED One camera, looks absolutely beautiful,
from the framing to the camera movement to the lighting and on to the
look and the feel of the depth of field the RED captures.
Sorkin's
script is also an impeccable achievement and showcases, once again just
what a genius this man really is. From a structural standpoint it
employs a very effective use of a framing device – the Zuckerberg
lawsuit depositions, which introduce the various characters and lead
into "flashbacks" of the events being discussed. It really lends the
film a Rashomon air and intensifies the mystery behind the Zuckerberg
character and what exactly transpired in the creation of this
phenomenon, Facebook. Sorkin also demonstrates an acute awareness of
character construction, and manages to create a loathsome protagonist we
hate and are frustrated by but yet we still end up sympathizing with.
Most of all, though, it's a showcase of Sorkin's impeccable writing
style and knack for writing dialogue with a very unique sound and
rhythm. I saw Fincher refer to it as "Sorkinese" in an interview, and
this is a really good description – it is certainly very unique to
Sorkin and the scripts he has written, and it is also certainly a
completely unique language – one which normal people in our real world
do not speak, but that just sounds great on screen. The rapid-fire,
overlapping dialogue remains one of the highlights of the film for me,
and the script is certainly a shoo-in for Oscar consideration.
The
film is also a rare showcase of pure acting prowess, and features a
very interesting and eclectic cast of young actors stepping out of their
comfort zones and delivering some truly phenomenal work. The casting of
the film is quite a departure for Fincher, who has enough clout to
gather the biggest names working in the business. Instead, he opted to
go for a cast of relative unknowns or up-and-comers, and really make
stars out of them. First and foremost to be mentioned is Jesse
Eisenberg, an actor I have personally been a fan of since The Squid and
the Whale in 2005 and one whose work I have continued to enjoy since
then. However, no matter how good he was in those previous films, none
of his previous performances compare to his amazing achievement on this
film. Stripping away his signature goofiness and neurosis, Eisenberg
plays Zuckerberg as a cold, calculated and determined genius who knows
what he wants, is very confident and forward-looking and will stop at
nothing to get it. His counter in the film is Saverin, played
brilliantly by Andrew Garfield, a name we will be hearing a lot more of
of in the next few years: Saverin is a far more sympathetic character,
more warm and inviting – these traits only increase the impact of the
tragedy of Zuckerberg's betrayal of their friendship.
Many
pundits and commentators have designated this to be the "film that
defines our generation", and truly a "product of its time" in the most
literal sense of the word. However, I'm not sure I like this
designation, especially since once you watch the film, you very quickly
realize that this isn't a story about the founding of Facebook; it's
really a story of friendship, ambition and betrayal, a character study
of this fascinating individual whose actions in the film happen to
depict the invention of an online social networking site that gets out
of hand and puts all of his relationships, especially that with his best
friend and business partner, in jeopardy. All of the themes mentioned
above are universal and can be applied to a number of fantastic films
and works of fiction over the centuries, and that, I think, is the
greatest achievement of the film.
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