When I mentioned having seen The Social Network to friends of mine, there were invariably two reactions: 1) "Oh, I hear that's really good!" or 2) "Really? The 'Facebook' movie?" By now, most of them (and you reading) already know the background information - the film is based on how (and why) Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) created Facebook, how he, with the help of Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), effectively screwed Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) out of co-ownership of the company, and how Divya Nirendra (Max Minghella) and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) accused Zuckerberg of ripping off their idea.You also probably have had someone bend your ear about how the Winklevoss twins (or, as Mark calls them, the Winklevi) are actually played by Armie Hammer and Josh Pence, who provides the body for Tyler with Hemmer's face digitally mapped over Pence's. You may have heard about the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, or you may simply know the film from its (in my opinion, effective) trailers, utilizing a cover of Radiohead's "Creep" and Kanye West's "Power." At the very least, everyone I've talked to knows that David Fincher directed the film, and some are aware it was written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Charlie Wilson's War). There are, however, also a few misconceptions about the film I've noticed.
The first seems to be tied to a strange backlash on David Fincher, based solely on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - which almost nobody saw, but apparently everyone seems to hate. It can't be residual hate from Panic Room, because people don't seem to remember Panic Room, and most of the people I talked about The Social Network to either really like or love Alien 3, Seven, The Game, Fight Club, and Zodiac. Since I didn't hate The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (it's not great, and probably wasn't an Oscar contender, but it's not the disaster everybody painted it as) I must confess that carrying this over to The Social Network seems a little harsh.
If the problem is Fincher's typical underlit, visually acrobatic aesthetic, then I feel the need to point out that The Social Network is anchored by that other force, namely Sorkin's script. For those not familiar with Aaron Sorkin, he writes dialogue that goes on for pages, filled with the kind of effortlessly clever banter you wish you had come up with but know isn't within you. Sorkin's gift is that he can fill a series (or a film) with nothing but characters who do that and still keep you emotionally invested. The Social Network is set up as a series of flashbacks, told during Zuckerberg's dual depositions with the Winkelvoss and Saverin legal teams. There's a lot of verbal jousting, and Fincher doesn't indulge in many crazy camera tricks, although it would be unfair to say the film is uncharacteristic Fincher. I'd refer you to Zodiac, which is also based on a true story.
Speaking of which, many of the people who call it "The 'Facebook' movie" have also expressed disinterest to me because they feel they already know the story: socially awkward geek creates social network - isn't it ironic, don't ya think? That's maybe the kernel of the story, but Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg is so far from interested in "fitting in" once the film gets rolling that you're invested in him, Saverin, the Winklevoss twins, and (to a degree) Parker that the levels of subterfuge, betrayal, and shades of gray on everyone's part become fascinating.
It's also important to point out that, in The Social Network at least, Zuckerberg is ultimately less interested in the actual networking than he is the programming and potential of Facebook as a concept. There is one shot of Mark adding a "friend," tied directly to an argument he has with his girlfriend at the beginning of the film, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), the only thread in the film which I found problematic. It does make it possible for the easy characterization of The Social Network, and in some ways it undermines the original argument in the first place.
Albright and Zuckerberg are having a conversation where the two of them are operating on different levels, and the inability to bring those threads together is what splits them up. But that's not because Mark is awkward and Erica isn't; it's because what they want out of Harvard are at odds with each other. When she leaves him, Albright says "You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole," which is at the center of almost every conflict that Mark has during the film. Does he use the Winklevoss twins? Does he betray Saverin? Does he put Parker's connections above his business partners? Yes, but there are moments in the film where Eisenberg plays regret and betrayal at the flip side of those questions.
Let's move on to the acting, briefly, because I do want to talk about the film itself and not simply defend it from generalizations. Slowly and quietly over the last few years, Jesse Eisenberg has become an actor to keep an eye out. The first time I saw him, in Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale, I hated him (by virtue of the character he played), and during the rise of Michael Cera after Arrested Development, comparisons seemed to be everywhere. Honestly, I haven't seen Scott Pilgrim (or many of Cera's movies), but I think I'll take Eisenberg. If nothing else, he's more versatile and takes the "asshole" in Mark Zuckerberg, complete with Sorkin zingers, and invests you in his story. Zuckerberg could easily be the villain of The Social Network (and a lot of people argue that he is), but Eisenberg shifts that distaste halfway through one of the Saverin depositions.
Andrew Garfield has a very similar track record with the Cap'n, in that I disliked his character so much in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus that the news he would be the new Spider-Man gave me no sense of interest whatsoever. I'm actually much more on board with Garfield because of his Eduardo Saverin, who has the "put-upon friend" role and is saddled with one of the worst Facebook related scenes in the film (the dreaded "relationship status update"), and gives him life and depth. Eduardo puts a lot on hold because of Zuckerberg, and his abandonment doesn't make much sense to either of them.
It happens because of Justin Timberlake's Sean Parker, the creator of Napster and a character that seems to be more of a huckster at first. What's so impressive about Timberlake is that he never overplays the dubious side of Parker (which would be very easy considering where Parker ends up in the story of Facebook) and for a while, you genuinely believe his enthusiasm for Zuckerberg's idea is altruistic. And, as Sorkin writes it, it is. He's just also has paranoid delusions and has a bad habit of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
This review is getting long, and I haven't even scratched the surface; the fantastic Armie Hammer, who plays Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss so distinctly that you never doubt that both of them exist on-screen; Rooney Mara, who has a lasting impression on the film that almost erases the bad taste she left in my mouth after A Nightmare on Elm Street; the crackerjack deposition scenes; Fincher's use of light to punctuate the typical "dark, fluorescent" visual palette of his other films; the way Sorkin's screenplay slowly doles out information that would change impressions of earlier scenes.
I was very impressed by The Social Network, in just about every respect. Yes, there are one or two things that don't quite work, and there's definitely a slightly misogynistic undertone to the film, but I don't feel that it's fair to characterize The Social Network as just "the 'Facebook' movie." It's like saying Zodiac is just "the 'serial killer' movie," which it's not; it's the backdrop of a far more interesting character study. That is, by the way, an absolutely fair comparison, because each one is very much a David Fincher film. None of you jumped on Fincher for the pre-millenial angst of Fight Club, which is as (arguably) on the nose as making a film that takes place seven years ago, as The Social Network does. So go against those gut instincts to avoid the film; I really do think you're going to be surprised, even if you go in with pre-conceived notions. Well written, acted, and directed films can have that effect on you*.
* Although I have to admit that I feel somewhat hesitant to include this review as a "Status Update" on Facebook.
2 comments:
Great review, you pretty much summed up what I wanted to say about the film but couldn't. One point though, you write that Mark and Erica's break up is "because what they want out of Harvard are at odds with each other." Erica went to Boston University, Mark tells her she doesn't need to study and when she asks why he makes a crack that it's because she goes to BU.
-Kai
You are entirely correct. In my hurry to keep the review short (and mention Harvard, which is as important to the film as anything else mentioned), I was a bit imprecise. Perhaps I should have said "what they want out of Harvard social groups are at odds with each other," as that is the kernel of the breakup when Mark realizes Erica is criticizing his obsession with elitist organizations.
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