"You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies." That's the tagline for the movie, The Social Network. Those dozen words pack a powerful descriptive for a flick about Mark Zuckerberg's rise with the social media site, Facebook.
From a standpoint of interpersonal relationship, watching the initiation and rise of Facebook is like watching a train derail. Although, in this case, rather than a destructive derailment of ruin, fire and demolition, Zuckerberg's train derails merely to land in a pond of golden Jello. The Social Network showcases irony at it's best. Here you have Mark Zuckerberg, who is easily the leading candidate for Social Retard of the Millennium. Mark is also enterprising the most successful social media site in Web 2.0 history. How's that for a little incongruity?
Mark (Jesse Eisenberg) is a Harvard student and programming whiz-kid. The movie opens in 2003 with a great scene between Zuckerberg and Emily, his Boston U girlfriend at a local bar. Well, soon to be ex-girlfriend. The dialogue we see is enough to make any relationship-attached female create an ex-girlfriend sized hole in a wall. Mark is crass. He's arrogant. He's the kind of guy who is far more impressed with himself than anyone ever has the right to be. But, that's our Mark. He's not a bad guy; although he certainly tries to be. At any rate, back to the bar...yeah, he get's dumped. Next, Mark promptly writes a few choice comments on his blog about Emily's family...her breasts...initiates a comparison between her and farm animals...you get the picture. Mark doesn't stop there. He quickly targets all women at Harvard, creating a 'facesmash' site where people can choose between two hotties. This gets him in Harvard hot water and simultaneously creates a name for himself on campus, infamous as it may be.
Enter the Winklvoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer, of Gossip Girl and Reaper fame, not the baking soda). They've come up with an idea for a site which enables Harvard students to connect. They ask Mark, with his new-found programmers/hacker's rep, to join the group. Mark, however, takes the idea and runs in his own direction with The Facebook. Yadayadayada the site grows in members and value, while pissing off a host of people in the wake.
It's good...very good, actually. I'll give it 4.5 stars and early consideration for best picture. My initial concern was that it was going to be tough to follow--darting in and out from the various mediation hearings within the multiple lawsuits while the story unfolds. Alas, no problems following along at all--just stick with a plain Mr. Pibb minus any additives and you'll be fine. It's just a shade over two hours, but with a story that excels beyond interesting, time does, indeed fly. After all, we're talking about a story that highlights the height and depth of ROI as it relates to human relationships. Throw in the big business angle and the most popular social media website in the cyber-verse and you've got an intriguing tale. The acting was excellent. I can't say enough about Eisenberg's performance. It was an impeccable casting job and a perfect role for Eisenberg, who is quite accustomed to depicting social aloofness (Adventureland, Zombieland, Solitary Man, need I say more?) There are flashes where you'll move beyond begrudging respect for Zuckerberg's massive intelligence and actually like him a little bit, before you're reeled back into a reality that simply states: Get a grip, pal. This was Jesse's mastery. Eisenberg was not alone. Andrew Garfield and Hammer also shine in this one, with Joseph Mazzello (good to see him on the big screen again, btw) thrown in for good measure.
See it and see it BIG!
No mowing this week...just a lot of watering (aeration and overseeding time, ya know).
True...OUT!
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