I can’t believe I’m saying it. But I’m going to. The Social Network is, in fact, one of the best films of the year. It might even be one of the best films of the decade. And hey, I only joined the actual website a couple years ago and made fun of this film when I first heard about it. “They’re making a movie about Facebook? Are you f—ing kidding me?”

But here it is, folks. And it is here to deliver and knock you upside the heads. This is a film that is truly fascinating. And the most fascinating aspect of this movie is that what takes our breath away is not the “hot” actors in the movie. It is not the “action” that is to die for, since there is none. It’s not the amazing “CGI.” It is, pure and simple, the beautiful and engaging dynamics of the characters and their interactions and motivations. It is the dialogue, written by Aaron Sorkin, that completely takes over your mind and enthralls you. It is a wonder to behold. This is a picture where we listen. We process. We engage. We watch. We consider. Can you think of the last time this has happened?

What many people are focusing on about this film is whether or not Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg (Jess Eisenberg is revelatory in this iconic role) is actually “this bad.” Guess what? That’s not the point. We know from the outset that the initial premise of his girlfriend dumping him in a restaurant is fiction and that Sorkin wrote this in part to give the audience something to latch onto for why Zuckerberg’s supposed desire  to fit in to his elitist and pompous surroundings at Harvard University grew into a disease to control our social outlook in the new age of technology.

Over the course of the film, the audience is given the opportunity to weigh for themselves whether Zuckerberg screwed over two different entities: his best friend Eduardo Saverin (played by an excellent Andrew Garfield) and the Winklevoss twins (both portrayed by a bland and uninteresting Armie Hammer with the help of a little bit of CGI – hey what movie doesn’t have it these days?). Personally, I found myself 80% on Zuckerberg’s side. I mean, hey, after all, this was the guy who actually programmed the site and all three of the adversarial characters, especially Saverin, make some truly idiotic decisions regarding their financial security in terms of the situation. It becomes truly baffling when you take into account their majors and where they are studying!

Three performances stand out in this film. The first one is Jesse Eisenberg’s. His turn as Mark Zuckerberg is swaggering, appalling, and heroic. I say heroic because even though Sorkin does is darndest to portray him as the villain, his wit and intelligence are so captivating that he schools every opponent he comes across in a game of verbal warfare that is absolutely stimulating. Garfield, who we will see don Spidey’s suit soon, is sympathetic and endearing. He starts out with a swagger that does not match Eisenberg’s but is soon taken down so many pegs, we cannot help but rush to his side in his defeat. And as sly opportunist Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster, Justin Timberlake finally accomplishes the charisma of which he has attempted in many a film before, but has never mastered until now. He is electric. You do not even recognize him when he first appears on screen. He doesn’t alter his appearance at all, he just sinks so deep into character that he embodies the sleaze and pathos. Bravo (I wonder if Jess Biel is jealous somewhere because she has never mustered a performance like this in her numerous years of practice in her “craft”).

The Social Network is a film about ethics. How far would you go to secure your invention? Is it your invention? Is anything truly ever an invention? Or does it always draw a bit from those that have gone before? Look at the film industry. In an age where sequels and remakes rule, it doesn’t seem as though anything is absolutely brand new and an entity of its own. Well guess what? The Social Network actually is. This is a movie that encapsulates the age of the internet (something the above average and underrated 2008 film August with Josh Hartnett attempted to do, and only halfway succeeded) like no other film has done.

This is a landmark picture. I’m not one to condone social networking, as I think that it ultimately drives us away from one another. We don’t talk on the phone anymore, we see less of each other, talk less, write email and text more. But its importance cannot be thrown aside. In years to come this will be the film that will define an era. And that era is now. So go actually talk to someone before it’s too late and Zuckerberg has found a way to actually take over the world.

Filed under: Career Revelation, Killer Dialogue, Oscars, silver screen by admin