The Social Network (2010)
“If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook”

Fancy watching a strange looking man singing The Beatles “Baby You’re A Rich Man” before reading aloud his own spoiler free review of this highly recommended film? Or do you wish to just skip past this madness and onto my love-in appraisal of yet another tremendous film from the master storyteller David Fincher?
As ever dear reader, the choice is yours.
Not a fan of Facebook?
Come and join my club!
We serve biscuits!
Not even vaguely aware of Facebook and the phenomenon it has become?
Please don’t let that stop you watching this fast paced, character driven expose’ on its creation and its after effects on all concerned. At its core it’s a story of the development and success story that is Facebook. However it’s far more than that. Via quickly edited flashbacks, we see the historical context of the early creation of FaceMash, the development into TheFacebook and its eventual final guise of simply Facebook. These flashbacks come from two separate, present day court cases, both of which portray the anguish, the highs and lows and loss of friendships the development of this social network has wrought in its wake.
Based on Ben Mezrich’s book “The Accidental Billionaires”, Aaron Sorkin deserves great credit for adapting a tight, tense and excellent screenplay which perfectly encapsulates the time, place and achievements of this premier social networking site. He also deserves the Oscar win for his screenplay, as do Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Best Original Score and Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for Best Editing. I have referenced the musical choices used throughout this brief appraisal but it bears repeating as this film and time period is still fresh and relevant that tracks from Super Furry Animals, Bob Marley and the Dead Kennedy’s also appear throughout the film, in addition to the superb original music throughout and tracks by personal favourites The White Stripes and The Beatles. The music soundtrack is highly recommended as a stand alone piece regardless of the film.
Opening with the crunching “Ball and Biscuit” from The White Stripes and underscored throughout by the excellent musical score from Trent Reznor, we are introduced to “Mark Zuckerberg”, immediately portrayed as a geeky, socially awkward, obsessive, compulsive and often rude teenage student. Jesse Eisenberg excels here with a nuanced performance whilst giving it his all and together with the above traits, filling the role with a devil may care attitude. It’s a towering performance. Together with the excellent score, Eisenberg also constantly narrates the film as Zuckerberg, and we follow his early development of the various social networks, his awkward social appearances, and his obsessions and frailties.
Inter cutting throughout, from present day court scene to past historical event and back, the film moves quickly, is fun to watch and absorbing, with characters that, on the screen at least, you believe and invest in. Andrew Garfield is excellent as “Eduardo Saverin”, Zuckerberg’s principal partner and financial backer. The interplay between Eisenberg and Garfield as the film’s principal players is balanced well and as their relationship begins to falter we see the pain and anguish this is causing. Justin Timberlake plays “Sean Parker”, young fresh and ambitious early creator of Napster and a cameo role for Rooney Mara as Zuckerberg’s put upon girlfriend “Erica”. Central to the story too are the Winklevoss twins, played well by Armie Hammer and Josh Pence.
The closing credits are accompanied by The Beatles “Baby You’re a Rich Man” and as the years have passed since both the creation of Facebook itself and this film, it’s a particularly apt choice! This is ultimately a film on the creation of Facebook, but that is to underplay it considerably. It’s a tale of early life success, of wanting friends yet pushing away the ones closest to us. A tale of obsessions and a desire to achieve a unique product. And as the Court Room scenes perfectly encapsulate, it’s also a tale of loss, alienation, frustration and regret.
“The Social Network” can also be found within my 7 volumes of “Essential Film Reviews Collection” on Amazon with each and every volume free to read should you have a Kindle “Unlimited” package. All 9 of my self-published books can also be read for free on Kindle (but go on, treat yourself to a paperback or hardback version!) and should you watch my short Youtube video linked at the top of this article you’ll also find links to my Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee and other ways of supporting my work as an independent writer.
"The Essential Film Reviews Collection VOL.7" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.