The Social Network Review

With so many people wondering "Who made Facebook?" and "Where did Facebook begin?" it's nice to see the question illustrated in such a bravado, 'comic book style' kind of way by the guys at Hollywood. That isn't saying I didn't like the movie, or the actors for that matter.

I just thought that putting together a story about Mark Zuckerberg inventing Facebook, and the years leading up to Facebook's grand-opening to the public, wouldn't be such a catchy film. Obviously, so did the directors and producers, as they've clearly edited a few little scenes and characters for drama effect.

The Social Network follows the life of Mark Zuckerberg, from the creation of Facebook's predecessor Facemash, to the present day, or at least, the present when the film was made.

Jesse Eisenberg plays a great nerd in all of his films, in a sort of not trying yet would love to be cool way. I cannot blame Jesse for his apparent arrogance and inability to talk to women or men and his flaws in friendship in the film; as I assume this is part of the script to make it seem more lifelike or to make the plot more juicy. That's quite a lot of provocation on Mark's behalf, as he does not seem the least bit social awkward in interviews.

Another thing I found quite disappointing with the film was the way Sean Parker was portrayed by Justin Timberlake. He is made to be this very eccentric, cool, chick-loving guy, when really he strikes a lot of people as a nerdy kid who hasn't quite grasped orderly adulthood yet. Given that Jesse Eisenberg plays a rather nerdy awkward kid, I found it quite annoying that Sean Parker is a very cool guy, who establishes everything in a charismatic way. But, I guess Justin couldn't play a socially awkward nerd.

I'll explain the plot briefly,as you can just Wiki 'The Social Network' or 'Facebook' and find it out from their in more detail. The Social Network goes through Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook life, exposing the good and the bad sides to what he did in order to create Facebook. In parts the film branches off to the future, where he is settling court claims with his colleagues and with his enemies.

Eduardo, his room-mate, works on him with the Facebook idea, and after a while they meet up with Sean Parker. Parker illuminates Mark's mind, basically telling him what to do with the website. While Zuckerberg is dumbfounded by Parker's likeability (in some aspects), Eduardo is annoyed with Parker's outgoing and "too aggravating" posture and social conversation, and the fact Parker is taking away Zuckerberg.

Throughout the movie, you see the two brothers who believe they were ripped off by Zuckerberg, and how they want to strike back at Mark. They keep seeing Facebook all over the place, and it eventually leads them to claim copyright.

After moving to California, he is set in an office and starts making money. This is when Eduardo is cut out the deal, by Zuckerberg and possibly through Parker's persuasion.

Parker organises a party with all the Facebook employees and others - they get caught doing coke and Parker is took down to prison. The end scenes show Zuckerberg in his office alone, then in an office after a court agreement.

Mark then goes onto Facebook, to see if the girl he had a desire for is on, she is, and he sends her a friend request, he then awaits her reply - refreshing the page every few seconds. I guess the last scene was meant to be ironic, as that's what we mostly do.

There are many ups and downs of this movie. I guess the major up is that it is very well directed and the character choices are moderately good. The downs are that a movie about Facebook would never be popular; they needed that side-punch of editing that made it worth the watch. That simple movie feel to it, the Sean Parker cool dude scheme; the girl that Zuckerberg is trying to get but is too socially awkward to be normal with; the best-friends who become enemies at the expense of a company.

All in all, I believe the good come over the bad. It's not a bad film to watch and it's not so autobiographical you are bored and not too Hollywood you're shocked that they're even trying to fool you. I've done my research and even wrote a Hub on the beginning of Facebook, most of what is on the film is true - with the Hollywood punch, as I've said too many times.

I would give this movie a 7/10, but then I think about how people unlike me would view it - people that really don't care for tiny incorrect details, as long as the film is better and has more influential actors. For that, I will give it a 9/10. It's a great movie.