The Social Network (2010)

Source: thesocialnetwork-movie.com

A movie about Facebook’s origins, The Social Network, left me with the feeling that this is how life works. There are no black and white characters; everyone has something to give and something they will take away. How you deal with that and respond to that will make you or break you.

Directed by David Fincher, The Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Brenda Song, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella and Rooney Mara. Without question, Eisenberg does a brilliant job playing the character of Mark Zuckerberg. It’s a role that draws sympathy at genius alienated, invokes outrage at how friendships are tested, and brings out the single-minded drive that made Facebook what it is today.

The disastrous turn of events that plague much of Andrew Garfield’s character Eduardo Saverin (Co-founder and ex-CFO of Facebook) is simply tragic. His increasing loss of influence, his deteriorating friendship with Zuckerberg and the way he gets played out is awful, but it shows that naiveté and inexperience have no place among the hard hearts of Silicon Valley.  

The one who knows the game, invents the rules and leaves no apologies for the casualties is undoubtedly Justin Timberlake’s character – Sean Parker, Co-founder of Napster. The irony is he makes it work, but at what price?

It’s worthwhile knowing that it’s not a true-to-life film in a pure sense. Andrew Sorkin’s screenplay is based on Ben Mezrich's book ‘The Accidental Billionaires,’ a contentious work in itself. What it does is highlight the social mechanisms at play within different groups: from men and women, the techno-crazed and the ‘in’ crowd, to the moneymakers and the start-ups, and even ethics and rights. 

There are no final resolutions, and that works fine for this riveting tale. What's more, if you are on Facebook, it's bound to add an interesting perspective.

On an interesting side note, if you have listened to the trailer (below) and are wondering where the music is from, here’s some info. The song “Creep,” which is only featured on the trailer and not on the official soundtrack, is a cover version of an original by Radiohead for their album ‘Pablo Honey.’ The voices behind the haunting rendition of the trailer are Vega Choir from Sweden from their album ‘Keep Breathing.’

For more videos, pics and info go to www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com


(c) Sony Pictures