The Social Network (2010) Review

“I’m CEO bitch”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Since biopics are a go-to genre, a movie about the very first social networking website Facebook was bound to made, but I never expected it to be so damn compelling. 


PLOT


Based on Ben Mezrich’s novel, The Accidental Billionaire, 2010’s The Social Network follows two intercut stories where Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is going through two lawsuits by his former friend, Eduardo Saverin and the Winklevoss twins, Cameron & Tyler. Chronically, Mark attended Harvard University in 2003 and when his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) dumps him for his immaturity, he gives an insulting blog about her on LiveJournal and created the campus website Facemash alongside Eduardo, where site visitors can rate attractiveness of female students. Because he hacked and downloaded photos from house face books, he is given six months of academic probation. With Facemash actually getting popularity at the time, the Winklevoss twins & their business partner Divya Narenda meet Mark and ask him to make their own network exclusive meant for exclusive online dating with Harvard students, Harvard Connection. Zuckerberg takes the deal, but instead works on ‘TheFacebook’ with Eduardo that becomes exclusive for Ivy League. TheFacebook does become popular as well with the financial investment Saverin puts in, but it does the get the attention of Mark’s previous partners who believe he stole the whole idea after misleading them with stalling development of Harvard Connection. The Winkevoss twins address this to Harvard President Larry Summers, but he did not see the value of taking disciplinary action. Once the site expands to Yale, Colombia & Stanford, it gets the attention of Napster co-founder Sean Parker who meets both Saverin & Zuckerberg, who suggests the name change and offers a billion dollar vision. Zuckerberg would take his advice relocating to Palo Alto for a base of operations, whereas Saverin stays in New York to work on business development. After competing in the 2004 Henley Royal Regatta, the Winklevoss twins go forward with suing Mark for intellectual property theft off of the fact Facebook expanded to Europe. When finding annoyance of Parker making more decisions without his approval, he freezes Facebook’s bank account. He does however relent upon hearing Mark secured a deal from angel investor Peter Thiel. Friendship would officially conclude between Zuckerberg and Saverin when the latter finds his ownership percentage to be the only one diluted to 0.03 percent, as well as be removed of CFO and co founder. Ironically after celebrating one million users, Mark would cut ties with Sean when he gets arrested for cocaine possession with a minor.  Within both framed stories, Saverin claims he was fairly diluted to the company he co founded and the Winklevoss claim the whole idea was stolen from Mark. Due to all the sordid details deeming him unsympathetic to a jury, he is informed by his junior Marilyn Delpy (Rashida Jones) that they will settle. As the film ends with Mark sending a friend request to Erica on his website, an epilogue is read: The Winklevoss twins received a $65 million and signed a non disclosure agreement, Eduardo was restored as co-founder after receiving an unknown settlement, Facebook reached 500 million members by 2010 & valued $25 billion, and Mark remains the youngest billionaire in the world.


THOUGHTS


This was my introduction to director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin who were straight up a match made in heaven in crafting this story. This could've been a disaster for adapting it so soon at the time, but that just proves it was too good to wait. The second you hear the magnetic score by Nine Inch Nails members, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, you're sucked into a utopia where connection comes and goes with the people you want to be a part of. The cinematography by Jeff Cronenworth and editing by Angus Wall & Kirk baxter are also something to obsess over because every second is gonna pull you into a setting where everyone wants to be someone and have to figure out how to get there. Some would call this point in history timely because technology has changed overtime, but since Facebook has stuck around to the point it inspired familiar platforms of Twitter and Instagram, it is all the more timeless. Despite the various historical changes such as the exact rot of the site's creation, the whole point of this story is that it's a perfect example of how ambitions of success can quickly lead to betrayal. The case is proven when following an ensemble of individuals who went through it in the hardest ways possible. Jesse Eisenberg immediately became a household name due to giving an all timer performance as Mark Zuckerberg, a man who had the inventive mind to make something special for the world to connect virtually, but pursued the path with the wrong motive. He was deeply heartbroken with what happened with Erica, a fictional version of a real life ex that was actually named Jessica, and wanted to build a new community to connect with, mostly to get his mind off of his disappointment. There's no certainty if he ever wanted to apologize to her or anyone else he hurt since he did move on and get married to Priscilla Chan in 2012, but it doesn't change the fact he was willing to succeed off of something that would indeed bring the world together. Seeing the people he wronged was definitely a tough pill to swallow because many business moves can occur like so in reality, but it never makes it any better. On top of that, either perspective you look at the enemies he made, they are either the victims in their eyes or someone who can't handle what's best for business. Armie Hammer gave a great dual performance as the Winklevoss twins because both halves were naive and forthright with what they wanted. They were far too impressed with what Mark got to do with Facemash that they thought it was a good idea to trust someone who went rogue for his own creation. The big difference between both brothers was that Tyler was more analytical compared to Cameron since he previously didn't think it was in their best interest to sue him. But with Max Minghella making Divya equally driven to protect an investment they think they deserve, the odds were at their favor to get it. Mark does sound right to say they were too entitled for their own good, but I don't think it excuses him from going behind his back the way he would. If anyone had to be the biggest victim, it does feel like Eduardo is that answer. Before being a web shooter, Andrew Garfield was goddamn fantastic as Saverin because while he showed loyalty to a point, he did his best in wanting to be level headed with his friend as in remind to be rational and be communicative since that was the whole point of making Facebook. He boldly froze the accounts to prove that point and sadly, Mark just didn't take it that well. Mark wanting to keep on elevating due to the influence Sean gave, while Saverin was just trying to catch up and still do what's best for everyone. Had Zuckerberg slowed things down just once, he would've not lost a real good friend. He thought he gained a new one through Sean since Justin Timberlake portrayed him as one who shares the ambition and was able to convince him to join the hype train through his charisma. It did work for him to basically manipulate the situation between two friends, but it was only temporarily since his non-business decisions led to him losing the momentum he dying to gain. Had he focused on building a relationship with both founders instead of one, things could've been much better for him. Mark did the right thing cutting ties with him as soon as possible, because he realized he never was a friend and didn't deserve his kindness to begin with. Whatever friends he has left besides his wife, I hope he still cherishes them. In conclusion, The Social Network is one of the best movies ever made for being a thrilling biopic that gets bigger each second, earning all its success at the Oscars. If you ever wonder about the birth of social media, see this now.