Sara Likes This

The Social Network
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
Released 10/1/10
Viewed 10/5/10

Here is an anecdote before I begin my review. Don't worry, it's related to the subject of the movie. About a year ago, my mom was telling my brother and me news about some of our cousins and each time she would tell us about one of them, we would both reply, "We know, we already read about it on Facebook." She would then go on and say, "Oh, well did you know that so-and-so is pregnant/has a new job/fill in the blank here." And again, yes, we had already in fact known this news because we both have Facebook along with our cousins who posted the news. That's one of the benefits (and perhaps also one of the downfalls) of Facebook: news can get around in seconds. Along with Facebook, I also have LiveJournal, Twitter (which I hardly use) and this blog. Who needs the newspaper when you can get the latest news with the click of a mouse?

Directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, two of the best working in the business today, The Social Network is a smart and provocative drama about the founding of Facebook and how creator Mark Zuckerberg pissed off a few people who claimed he stole their idea. I don't know much about Zuckerberg except that he's worth billions of dollars and is 26, but he doesn't come off as very likable in the movie. Jesse Eisenberg plays him as someone who is socially inept, not always thinking about what he is saying and hurting people in the process, including his girlfriend and best friend who both part ways with him because he ends up embarrassing or betraying them.

Andrew Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin, the one-time best friend and partner of Zuckerberg who ends up suing him. You feel bad for the guy because he's given the short end of the stick and is screwed by his friend when Mark wants to take the business in a different direction than Eduardo when he meets Napster creator Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake, rounding out the cast), who comes off worse than Zuckerberg because he's bit of a sleaze. Napster was pretty awesome though; I miss getting all those songs for free!

It's difficult to know how accurate this movie is. Zuckerberg says the movie isn't, but Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins who claimed Zuckerberg stole their idea, says it is. Go figure.

While the film is mostly a drama, there were a few funny moments in it. The scene where Eduardo's girlfriend starts freaking out at him because his status says "single" reminded me of Stan and Wendy in the South Park episode about Facebook and the student who came in late to a lecture and didn't realize that Bill Gates had been giving the lecture, though I found that a little far-fetched because these are Harvard students, after all. I mean, aren't Harvard students supposed to be smart?

My first introduction to Faceback was back in 2005 or '06 when a co-worker of mine told me I should get Facebook. When she described it, it sounded a lot like MySpace, which I had at the time (only at the persistence of my younger cousin) and never used. I signed up for Facebook and didn't even use it for about a year. It got really popular in 2007 and I noticed more of my friends, co-workers, high school classmates, and family members were also using it. I'll admit; Facebook can be very addicting. I always have to check it everyday to see if anybody's commented on my status and see what's in my newsfeed. With almost 200 friends (which really isn't that many in Facebook world), it's impossible to keep up with everybody because I'm constantly pushing the refresh button for live feed.

Even if you don't have Facebook or if you're anti-Facebook, I would still recommend the movie to you. It's worth checking out.