The Social Network - Review

I hereby guarantee, no spoilers follow. 

The Social Network, a film about the creation of Facebook, requires an ensemble cast.  If something is a success and involves 500 million people, it’s a safe bet it took more than one person to get there.  Each person has his side of a story to tell.  Mark Zuckerberg, the genius founder played by Jesse Eisenberg, just wants to make something “cool.”  Eduardo Saverin, his roommate/co-founder played by Andrew Garfield, wants to make a milliondollars.  Sean Parker, ex-Napster founder/entrepreneur and a bit of the devil played by Justin Timberlake, wants to make a billion dollars.  Along the way there’s an ex-girl friend, some Harvard jocks who thought Zuckerberg stole their idea and lawyers for everybody.

There is one more character I haven’t mentioned yet; Mr. Dialogue.  While some film’s “other character” might be cinematography, location or music, few films require dialogue to play such an important part and nobody writes better dialogue than Aaron Sorkin -- nobody.  It’s poetry delivered in terse wit.  I doubt the real life Zuckerberg, Saverin or Parker could possibly be this clever, but you sure as hell would want them to be.

If you’re not a screenwriting geek, you may not know who Aaron Sorkin is.  Sorkin wrote the screenplays for;

A Few Good Men

The American President

The TV series Sports Night (45 episodes)

The TV series The West Wing (154 episodes)

The TV series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (22 episodes)

Charlie Wilson’s War

Some people will go to see anything some particular actors or directors are involved in.  I will watch and listen intently to anything written by Sorkin.  There’s a musicality to it, a rhythm and then a whack up side the head. 

With dialogue being such a vital part to this film, I was a bit surprised by the audio mix in places.  Sure, I know it’s supposed to be a crowded bar, but I’m not here to listen to the band; I’m here to listen to Sorkin!
 

Ok, great, enough about Sorkin damn it!  How was the film?  Great.  I can see why the real life Zuckerberg might even be a little pissed off by it.  The real life Zuckerberg has reportedly defriended Sorkin.  Not because it puts Zuckerberg in a particularly bad light, in fact, I think it’s damn near flattering, but because when Sorkin digs into some certain aspects of why Facebook is so popular, it shows a bit of an ugly side.  Regardless of whether or not those reasons are the real reasons, they’re the reasons people coming out of the film will have stuck in their heads.  Those reasons are not all flattering to the users either.  In fact, they’re a little mean.

Of course, Sorkin wouldn’t be doing his job as a writer if he didn’t explore those aspects and he does it beautifully by use of the ensemble format. 

The Social Network opens Friday, October 1 in 2700 theaters nationwide.