Saturday 21 April 2012

The Social Network (2010)


Really enjoyed this film. Went into it thinking that it was most likely the latest overhyped decent film, being heralded as the second coming of Citizen Kane. Well I didn't quite get that, but it was well good. Granted, I do know that a lot of the character of Zuckerberg and others in the film was a bit misconstrued and twisted from the truth, but just looking at it as a work of fiction gets rid of that. A good work of fiction too. The struggle between friendhsip and success, not necessarily money but success, creates a great dynamic between Mark and Eduardo in the different time frames. You can see that underneath, they both still want to be friends but two big egos and drives for success keep that desire in second place.

Eisenberg does a brilliant job with the character of Zuckerberg especially. A performance that leaves the audience wanting to like the protagonist, despite every individual thing about him making him seem like an asshole. You can see that, through all the ass hole act, the backstabbing and the arrogance is just a pretty socially inept guy who needs to succeed to validate himself, a validation he'll never actually achieve.

However true to life it is, I've got to give it to Fincher, the ending is delightful. You've got the creator of the most social thing ever in human history sat alone, waiting for a friend that won't come after battling it out with the only real friend he ever had. A beautiful irony that, I hope, you only ever really get in film.

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