Film review - The Social Network

The Social Network is a very exciting and funny film about computer programming. That may seem like an oxymoron, but when the programme in question is one of the most significant websites in history, one that changes people’s lives on a daily basis and is worth billions, it perhaps isn’t that surprising.

The film tells the (possibly quite apocryphal) story of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), the founder of Facebook, from the creation of the website until he settles the various lawsuits it in turn created. After his girlfriend dumps him, Mark gets drunk and creates a website in a night so that people can rate the hotness of female students. This gets him a lot of attention, including from the Winklevoss twins, giant blond rowers who have plans to build a dating website exclusively for Harvard students. Mark agrees to help them while at the same time building thefacebook.com. We all know which site came out on top.

It is quite unusual to have a main character of a film that is so unlikable. Mark is like Sheldon Cooper with a sex drive and without the charm – selfish, terrible in social situations and with a fragile ego. Eisenberg doesn’t try to make him sympathetic and turns out a very good performance. Mark may be the brains of the operation, but his business partner and best friend Eduardo Saverin is the heart. Played by the lovely Andrew Garfield (last seen in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), his betrayal is very sad to watch. Justin Timberlake also gives a fine performance as the founder of Napster. Refreshingly, he plays a prat rather than a cool guy.

The journey from college dorm room to Silicon Valley is fast-paced and hilarious, thanks mainly to the script by The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. It’s full of lines perhaps even too clever to be spoken by a load of Harvard smart alecs. The direction by David Fincher is as cool, swish and grubby as you would expect.

Despite all the quality on screen, what perhaps is most striking about the film is how recent the events depicted are. Facebook was founded in early 2004 but a world without it already seems unthinkable for many. Perhaps it is too recent, both for the filmmakers to understand the impact of the website and for the real people portrayed in the film. However, it’s hard to quibble when seeing the film is such an enjoyable experience. Roll on Wikipedia: The Movie, I say.