The Social Network is a 2010 film that was written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher. It depicts the founding of the popular social networking site Facebook and the lawsuits that ensued thereafter. The main character in the film is Jesse Eisenberg who plays the role of Mark Zuckerberg. Others who star in the film are Andrew Garfield who plays the role of Eduardo Saverin, and Armie Hammer who plays the role of the Winklevoss twins, among others. The main themes in the film are power, friendship, loyalty, and betrayal. It received widespread acclaim from critics who praised its acting, editing, screenplay, and direction.
The film may attract interest from many people because it highlights the story of how popular site Facebook started and the people behind it.
The Plot
Mark Zuckerberg, a 19-year old student at Harvard, is dumped by his girlfriend Erica Albright and then insults her on Facemash, a website which gains popularity among students in Harvard. The popularity of Facemash attracts the attention of twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who approach Zuckerberg to work on a dating website called Harvard Connection. After making an agreement with the Winklevoss twins, Zuckerberg approaches his friend Saverin who provides the seed capital for building TheFacebook. This makes the twins unhappy because they believe that Zuckerberg stole their idea. The website then changes to Facebook and expands in other Ivy League Universities. The rest of the film is about the various lawsuits by Saverin against Zuckerberg and Facebook, who is incensed that his percentage share of Facebook has been significantly diluted by the incorporation of the company; and also, about the twins who later sue the company for intellectual property theft. Facebook gets incorporated. The Winklevoss twins finally receive a settlement and Saverin is restored as a co-founder of Facebook in the company’s masthead.
Review by Christopher Tookey
The film received several critical reviews. Christopher Tookey gives an in-depth review of the film. He equates the film to John Owell’s Citizen Kane due to the various common themes such as capitalism and the main character who is clever and inspiring in some ways, but also ruthless in other ways (Tookey). He states that there is irony in the film because the person who made billions out of a social network was not good at making friends or keeping them as depicted by the movie. He suggests alternative titles that would have been more appropriate for the film because of the irony (Tookey). He identifies the single-mindedness of Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in the pursuit of his goal of building the social network. He states that Jesse’s (as Mark Zuckerberg) intelligence was crucial for the success of the social network. He also details the lawsuits that was a characteristic feature of the film by mentioning the Winklevoss twins’ suit against Zuckerberg and Facebook. He also praises the screenwriter for not taking sides in the movie. He depicts the film as an amoral center since Zuckerberg is not concerned with being redeemed or not but his main concern is the success of the project. He praises the technical genius of the director of the film for portraying one character as a set of identical twins (the Winklevoss twins). He also points out the skills of the film director for bringing out styles such as suspense.
I agree with Tookey’s review as it is comprehensive. He covers the plot, the cast, the themes and also discusses the techniques that the film director has used to make the film a masterpiece.
Review by Deborah Ross
Deborah Ross starts by highlighting the brilliance of the film. She also states that the film is like Citizen Kane of the digitized age. She reviews the plot by describing the way the film starts; Zuckerberg’s girlfriend ditching him in a bar. She describes Zuckerberg’s character as a loner who is a genius in computer programming but does not know how to engage in social situations given the way he interacts with his girlfriend (Ross). She describes the lawsuits that ensued in the course of the film.
I agree with the review by Deborah Ross especially the plot. However, she should have gone deeper and explored the styles that the film director employs to make the film successful.
Review by Amy Taubin
Taubin starts by describing the film as a cerebral Fight Club probably because of the various lawsuits in the course of Facebook. He praises the direction of the film (Taubin). The review of the plot is excellent as it starts with Zuckerberg talking with his girlfriend and reveals his disconcerting conversational style. Erica, his girlfriend, annoys and dumps him and he gets out of the club.
The review is great as it creates a mental picture of the movie even for someone who has not watched it because of the descriptions of the scenes of the movie. Amy does an excellent review in this aspect. It also highlights the themes of the movie and gives a clear mental picture of the film that would make someone who has not watched it be interested in doing so.
Conclusion
The Social Network is a great film with a clear plot and themes, great direction, amazing soundtrack with great cast. The movie may be interesting to many people because it is based on the story of Facebook, which is a popular social networking site that has many users globally. The choice of the main character was excellent because he played the role successfully.
Works Cited
Ross, Deborah. “Nice work, Zuck.” The Spectator, 2010. Retrieved from
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2010/10/nice-work-zuck/
Taubin, Amy. “The Social Network.” ArtForum, 2010. Retrieved from
https://www.artforum.com/film/amy-taubin-on-the-social-network-26478
Tookey, Christopher. “The Social Network.” Mail Online, 2010. Retrieved from
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-1320630/The-Social-Network--story-Facebook-founder-Mark-Zuckerberg--Citizen-Kane-internet-generation.html
