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The Social Network
After three previous attempts, I was finally able to connect with 2010 Best Picture nominee The Social Network, a ferocious docudrama that sizzled from start to finish thanks to a merciless screenplay and a proven cinematic storyteller in the director's chair.
This film opens at Harvard University in 2003 where we are introduced to a brilliant computer geek named Mark Zuckerberg who is approached by a couple of snotty Harvard jocks to assist them in producing an internet dating sight for the college, an idea that Zuckerberg allegedly "stole" and turned into something that would eventually be known as Facebook. Aided by his best friend Eduardo Saverin, who was actually the money man behind Mark, who Mark would allegedly squeeze out of the company. The story unfolds as we learn that the jocks from Harvard and Eduardo are simultaneously suing Zuckerberg.
The real star of this film is the Oscar winning screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, the television writer who created NBC's The West Wing, that is unapologetic in its depiction of this internet enigma, who is portrayed here as a smug and arrogant ass who was apparently busy at the computer when the sensitivity chips were passed out. The opening scene of him on a blind date humiliating a girl and then going to his blog and posting that she's a bitch was possibly the most unflattering introduction of a movie character I have ever seen and I think it was probably the primary reason I turned this film off after about fifteen minutes during the first three times I attempted to watch it. I'm still not sure what kept me tuned in this time, but there's no denying that Sorkin's screenplay takes no prisoners and has no interest in whether or not the viewer can keep up with all the techno babble involved in the mounting of the story. Nor was Sorkin interested in whether or not we like Zuckerberg because from what is presented here, there wasn't much to like. It was also unsettling how humorless this Zuckerberg is...we're halfway through the film before we see him crack a smile and his self-righteous and cavalier attitude about being sued was, at times, shocking.
Sorkin's screenplay gets a respectful treatment from director David Fincher, the director of Se7en and Fight Club whose flashy and stylish camera work was a joy to be hold...I loved watching the camera doing simple things like moving through opening doors and making us wonder what was going to be on the other side not to mention the way his directorial eye makes being a computer geek the only way to live. In Fincher's capable hands, an often ugly and disturbing story becomes riveting.
Fincher must also be applauded for the performances he gets from Jesse Eisenberg, whose Oscar-nominated performance as Zuckerberg is fire and ice. Andrew Garfield is sincere and strong as Eduardo and Justin Timberlake lights up the screen with his ultra slick Sean Parker, the owner of a music internet empire who buys his way into Facebook and helps to push Eduardo out. The film also won Oscars for Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall's razor sharp film editing and the superb music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. A brilliant piece of film making that tells a true story and still provides first class entertainment. Can't believe it took me four attempts to connect to this masterpiece, but I am so glad I gave it one more try.
After three previous attempts, I was finally able to connect with 2010 Best Picture nominee The Social Network, a ferocious docudrama that sizzled from start to finish thanks to a merciless screenplay and a proven cinematic storyteller in the director's chair.
This film opens at Harvard University in 2003 where we are introduced to a brilliant computer geek named Mark Zuckerberg who is approached by a couple of snotty Harvard jocks to assist them in producing an internet dating sight for the college, an idea that Zuckerberg allegedly "stole" and turned into something that would eventually be known as Facebook. Aided by his best friend Eduardo Saverin, who was actually the money man behind Mark, who Mark would allegedly squeeze out of the company. The story unfolds as we learn that the jocks from Harvard and Eduardo are simultaneously suing Zuckerberg.
The real star of this film is the Oscar winning screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, the television writer who created NBC's The West Wing, that is unapologetic in its depiction of this internet enigma, who is portrayed here as a smug and arrogant ass who was apparently busy at the computer when the sensitivity chips were passed out. The opening scene of him on a blind date humiliating a girl and then going to his blog and posting that she's a bitch was possibly the most unflattering introduction of a movie character I have ever seen and I think it was probably the primary reason I turned this film off after about fifteen minutes during the first three times I attempted to watch it. I'm still not sure what kept me tuned in this time, but there's no denying that Sorkin's screenplay takes no prisoners and has no interest in whether or not the viewer can keep up with all the techno babble involved in the mounting of the story. Nor was Sorkin interested in whether or not we like Zuckerberg because from what is presented here, there wasn't much to like. It was also unsettling how humorless this Zuckerberg is...we're halfway through the film before we see him crack a smile and his self-righteous and cavalier attitude about being sued was, at times, shocking.
Sorkin's screenplay gets a respectful treatment from director David Fincher, the director of Se7en and Fight Club whose flashy and stylish camera work was a joy to be hold...I loved watching the camera doing simple things like moving through opening doors and making us wonder what was going to be on the other side not to mention the way his directorial eye makes being a computer geek the only way to live. In Fincher's capable hands, an often ugly and disturbing story becomes riveting.
Fincher must also be applauded for the performances he gets from Jesse Eisenberg, whose Oscar-nominated performance as Zuckerberg is fire and ice. Andrew Garfield is sincere and strong as Eduardo and Justin Timberlake lights up the screen with his ultra slick Sean Parker, the owner of a music internet empire who buys his way into Facebook and helps to push Eduardo out. The film also won Oscars for Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall's razor sharp film editing and the superb music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. A brilliant piece of film making that tells a true story and still provides first class entertainment. Can't believe it took me four attempts to connect to this masterpiece, but I am so glad I gave it one more try.