The Social Network

Maybe I'm too old. No, not maybe, I am. I saw this characters as aliens of sorts. I know they represent today's landscape, brrrrr. The film as a film is one of the best of David Fincher but the universe it explores gave the chills. A world approaching its end, fast. The youth of the characters made it even more sinister. I couldn't detect their soul or any evidence of its existence. In a way they represent the worst of the previous generations. Roman Emperors or Wall Street. Profit is the name of the game and the ideas come out of boredom of longings to get laid. Love and friendship, loyalty and/or honor as obsolete as good manners. Jesse Eisenberg is chillingly perfect as the humanoid that started it all - or did he? - Justin Timberlake keeps surprising me. Good, very good and Andrew Garfield, the most recognizable of the characters is a victim of sorts and he'll be destroyed no matter how much money he gets. How I wish this was merely a science-fiction film.

Fast paced and interesting, this movie tries too hard to portray Zuckenberg in a better light than he deserves. He was not a good coder. He was much more exploitative than movie suggest, as his later love affair with CIA and selling personal data of facebook users for nefarious purposes proved. This guy is far less charismatic than portrayed (and he isn't portrayed as particularly charismatic to begin with) and far more calculating, menacing and Machiavelian than described. The only thing the movie did show worse than it was was Zuckenberg incel situation. Zuckenberg was dating a Chinese golddigger/smartdigger/Harvarddigger the whole time and they got married.

But despite being more positive towards its subject than they would warrant, the movie manages to capture part of the psychopathic nature of facebook and its founding. Artistic liberties were taken in order to humanize these monsters, to make us care and for plot not to be boring. In that it succeeded, but humanizing monsters like Zuckenberg or Hitttlerr is never a good idea in a movie. However, you at least get an idea about the depths of the cutthrooat depravity that was only confirmed by the fact that facebook abuses the trust of its sheeple all the time, and a movie is fun to watch, and deserves a praise even if it is an idealised/sanitized/overseksed version of the sorry reality this movie is based on, and as a movie is well worth a watch, but keep in mind the reality was much darker and more boring at the same time.

I went into this film with little or no hope. By the time the movie was over, with the Beatles' "Baby, You're A Rich Man" playing over the end credits, I had a huge smile on my face. I literally cannot wait to watch this again during it's wide release.

The lighting and camera work here is beautiful, every scene and sequence is a joy to watch. If Fincher hasn't already proved himself time and time again with his great films, this one might be the one to seal the deal for him. One sequence in the middle of the film features a boring rowboat race. Fincher sets up the photography so beautifully, that it feels like you're watching a painting come to life.

All the performances are excellent. Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg as a fast-paced, nerdy, kind of jerk-ish attitude, and Andrew Garfield is his best friend, Eduardo, who at the beginning didn't mean much to me, but I found myself rooting for him by the end. Justin Timberlake is easily the weakest one of the three, but he still does a decent job.

And oh, man the soundtrack. Trent Reznor deserves some kind of recognition for this. It is amazing. A lot of people say the movie sounds boring. They cite "The invention of facebook" as an uninteresting topic. I say don't believe that talk, and check out this interesting, funny, thrill ride by Fincher and co.

This is a film which simply shouldn't work, but it does - magnificently. A story centred on a teenager who becomes the world's youngest billionaire, a web site that reaches a million users in two years, and a cast of real life characters with names like Zuckerberg and Winklevoss just shouldn't be possible. A convoluted tale of raw conflict on the origins of a new type of web site should not lend itself to an expensive movie as opposed to a television documentary. It succeeds because it is not about the technology but about creativity and conflict and about friendship and betrayal. It succeeds because of a magical combination of accomplished direction, scintillating dialogue and superb acting.

The direction comes from David Fincher who has had variable success, all the way from "Alien 3" to Se7en", but here he is right on form with a flashy, but tightly structured, presentation that never fails to command your attention and interest. The all-important, sparkling script is courtesy of Aaron Sorkin who gave us "The West Wing" - the best television series ever - and yet apparently does not do social networking.

At the heart of the movie is a brilliant, Oscar-worthy performance from Jesse Eisenberg as the 19 year old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, the genius behind "The Facebook" (the social network), the unsympathetic anti-hero of the adventure, a borderline sociopath variously described by women characters as "an asshole" and someone "just trying so hard to be" one. Andrew Garfield is excellent as Zuckerberg's Harvard roommate and co-founder of the site Eduardo Savarin; thanks to the wonders of CGI, Arnie Hammer manages to be terrific as both the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss; while singer Justin Timberlake is a revelation as the Napster founder Sean Parker. This is a testosterone-charged fable with room for women only in minor support roles - ironic in that getting girls was the impetus for the Facebook project.

The film opens in 2003 with a breathlessly wordy encounter and closes in 2009 with a poignantly wordless scene. In between, the story zips along at the frenetic pace characterised by the business itself. Adapted from Ben Mezrich's book "The Accidental Millionaires", the framework for the fascinating narrative is not one but two courtroom dramas or, to be more accurate, pre-trial hearings (both resulted in out-of-court settlements which tells you a lot). Clearly you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

So there I was, sitting in the cinema waiting to see 'Inception' greeting every belated trailer with a groan, each one prolonging the time till I could finally see one of the most anticipated movies of the year and there it was, I turned to one of my friends "my god..a film about facebook?!.." To say I was skeptical for those few moments would be an understatement, I was almost angry, like a footballer who releases an autobiography 5 years after he starts his career I just didn't understand the timing of it, who cares anyway?

"I think this is Finchers new movie actually"

"DAVID Fincher? He's made a film about facebook?!"

Almost immediately 'Social Network' became a movie that I needed to see. David Fincher is one of the true masters of delivering some of the greatest films of the past few decades. The gritty 'Se7en' and the intelligent 'Fight Club' had been two of my favourite movies growing up, the latter of which I had the privilege of studying in college quite in depth and although I missed 'Benjamin Button' (only god knows why it took me until 2013 to watch!) I had thoroughly enjoyed the enigmatic 'Zodiac' as well.

'Social Network' became my favourite Fincher title almost immediately. It is one of those rare works that feels so effortless in its brilliance which is due to the incredible work from both Fincher and Sorkin in creating this modern masterpiece, the way I see it the film relies heavily upon three aspects which are executed with perfection.

First of all, the score for this film is sensational. I've always been a huge fan of Trent Reznor & Nine Inch Nails but with his partnership with Atticus Ross and his ongoing collaborations with Fincher (also see 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo') I can only see them becoming the most formidable artists in the industry, every minor note resonates perfectly throughout the film and creates a beautiful texture on top of an already excellent piece of work.

Secondly, Sorkin's razor sharp screenplay is something a director can only dream of receiving, the dialogue never falters and it is always witty, sincere and hilarious all in one (which can also be attributed to the performances of the actors involved)

But most of all, the atmosphere that Fincher is able to create visually is stunning, huge credit must also go to long time collaborator Jeff Cronenweth, together their formidable partnership and undoubted perfect understanding of each other's work is clearly the factor behind this film being one of the best movies of the past decade

Great performances from Eisenberg, Garfield and Timberlake also help this movie stand head and shoulders above most and as one of the most promising young actresses in the business, Rooney Mara is given her first chance to truly show her quality in a small role.

It's difficult to say where 'Social Network' will stand when we look back on Finchers body of work but one things for sure, if it isn't seen as one of his truly great masterpieces then he is sure to become one of, if not the most powerful director in the industry for years to come.