The Social Network Review

[Westside Steve]

The Social Network

Columbia

PG 13 121 min

 

 

 

OK yeah I have a Facebook page and no I don’t fully understand it; in fact it’s a bit of a pain in the ass.

I realize that there are a lot of people who obsess over how many strangers they can assemble in a virtual army of “friends.”

I’m also hip to the fact that as with art, underground music or any subculture trend, as soon as anything gets momentum it becomes a for profit entity no more or less cool than selling beans or soap.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK is the story of how a young computer wiz Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) took an idea for a college internet info-sharing network and transformed it into an international mega company worth many billions of dollars.

Of course it’s impossible for any one man to be solely responsible for any mega corporation it’s inevitable that there will be other contributors in line for a slice of that pie. It’s that legal battle that makes up the framework of the film while matters of relationships and romance are revealed through flashback.

From the wordy opening scene it’s apparent that Zuckerman is a little bit of an A hole and he never really becomes more charismatic as the film builds steam.

In fact none of the players are particularly likeable, especially one of the partners Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) the founder of Napster. The main lawsuits are from Zuckerman’s friend and partner Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and the stereotype blue-blooded Winklevoss twins (played be Armie Hammer in a clever bit of camera trickery)

So there’s plenty of screwing (in the business sense) and suing going on here, by a bunch of young snots all over a company that holds scant interest to me.

Still the darn thing becomes more engrossing as it rolls along and almost inexplicably I really liked it by the time the dust cleared.

Director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin deserve credit for making a good film from such non-traditional fare.

B

WSS

 

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