Rating of
3/4
"The Social Network" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/13/12
Covering the rise of Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook and the resulting lawsuits, The Social Network is kind of like a Boogie Nights for dorks, showing how the phenomenon of "social networking" conquered the globe and made billionaires out of the young dotcommers involved. The cast are uniformly excellent, showing a warts and all account of the people involved; there are no "heroes" here, just a bunch of kids who had an intellect that made them capable of changing the world yet ironically was a massive handicap when it came to making normal human connections. Zuckerberg doesn't seem evil exactly, just a guy who thinks of himself as a rebel and pioneer, yet has spent his life and achievements shaking a fist at the world in general (and opposite sex in particular) because he wasn't smiled upon by the god of cool. Even Timberlake acquits himself well as the computer geek's equivalent of a rock star and epitomizes the entire movement; he claims he "revolutionized" the music industry and "changed it for the better" but what he actually did was destroy it for the sake of his own ego. This is truly a zeitgeist movie that no doubt catalogues a watershed moment in the evolution of human culture which now sees a generation who spend all of their social time photographing themselves looking like they're having a good time instead of actually having a good time. Just to have all of their photos become the property of Zuckerberg as soon as they are uploaded (along with ALL of their personal information of course!) This film is a testament to the skills of David Fincher and Aaaron Sorkin whose deft direction and razor sharp dialogue manage to make a film about a bunch of self superior, grasping, emotionally stunted dicks not only interesting but damn entertaining.
