The Social Network – Movie Review

Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield, Patrick Mapel, Rooney Mara, Brenda Song,
Gender: Drama
Runtime: 121 min

There are movies that tell the truth, and there are movies that just tell a good story. "The Social Network" is part of the latter category, succeeding to engross its audience for 120 minutes with a captivating story line and remarkable characters. This is one of the rare movies that are characteristic for an entire generation, succeeding to portray the tumult and ambitions of the "Net"generation.

"The Social Network" is a dramatization of the book "The Accidental Billionaires" written by Ben Mezrich, and tells the story of how "Facebook" - the famous social network was created. In the center of the plot we find Mark Zuckerberg the co-funder of Facebook, who is depicted as a controversial man: both brilliant and condescending. While attending Harvard university, Zuckerberg and his friends: Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Chris Hughes will develop a social networking site, which will later be called "Facebook". The movie is mainly focused on how Facebook is born and the tumult that succeeds this event.

In 2003, the 19-year-old Mark Zuckerber breaks up with his girl-friend Erica and wanting to get back at her he'll start creating a site where, by using intricate mathematical formulas, he'll rank the girls at school. Over night the site becomes a success and Zack's popularity starts to grow. In the same time determined to enter the Harvard elite, Zack will partner with the Winklevoss twins, which offer him access into Harvard's private clubs (a world of fascination for Zuckerberg), to develop a social website. The partnership will not last long because Zuckerberg will start a similar project of his own, helped by the co-founder of Napster Sean Parker, played by none other than Justin Timberlake.

From that point on, the movie will enter another dimension: betrayal, ambitions and lots and lots of money. Zuckerberg will get sued by his best friend Severin and the Winklevoss brothers, the second part of movie focusing on the legal disputes behind the "Facebook" phenomenon.

The movie has an almost aggressive tone, the dialogues are witty and the ending, as it is envisioned by the screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, is ironic and bitter, and for sure will make you think. Jesse Eisenberg known for movies such as: Zombieland" and "Solitary Man" plays Mark Zuckerberg, while Andrew Garfield is "Eduardo Saverin", Bryan Barter is "Billy Olsen", Joseph Mazzello is "Dustin Moskovitz ", and Brenda Song is "Christy Lee ".

Director David Fincher has tried to draw attention on the drama of the main characters and on the change that they undergo: from college students to millionaires. The path is never easy, and along the way Zack will lose a couple of friends, will almost lose his privacy, and will also lose a couple of millions.

Although the movie doesn't portray the facts as they really happened, being most of the time overstated, it offers an insight into the life of the so called "whiz kids", who at an early stage of their life have almost everything. But as the trailer of the movie points out "you don get to make 500 million friends without making a few enemies".

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