The Social Network

People will tell you that “The Social Network” is the definitive movie of this year, possibly of this current generation. It will turn heads; realign planets, save our youth from moral degradation. In truth, however, “The Social Network” is just a good little movie. Its aspirations to be great prove to be both its source of success and failure.

The movie concerns Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), the Harvard student who created Facebook. Zuckerberg begins by humiliating his former girlfriend on his blog and then creating a website in which students can rate the attractiveness of female Harvard undergraduates. He sends his website around campus, and it proves to be a hit.

His success catches the attention of Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, both played by Armie Hammer in a terrific dual performance. They want him to create a dating website for Harvard students; he takes their idea and molds it into the social network now known as Facebook. He co-founds Facebook with Eduardo (Andrew Garfield), the woefully unassuming best friend who loses almost everything. And to heighten the tension is Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, creator of the website Napster and contributor to Facebook. Parker is a hopelessly arrogant entrepreneur and his inclusion into Facebook’s development creates more conflict than anticipated.

The story is interspersed with lawsuits filed against Zuckerberg by the Winklevosses and Eduardo respectively. Zuckerberg stole his ideas from the brothers and the credit from Eduardo. The narrative device is well employed but also shopworn. I’ll be glad when screenwriters gain back the confidence to frame these kinds of stories in a more straightforward manner.

Eisenberg, playing Zuckerberg as a kind of selfish letch whose being smart is his ruination, is perfect for the role, capturing a young-minded indifference familiar to today’s society. Timberlake is (surprise!) pretty good as Parker. You can say whatever you like about his musical abilities; he proves here he can be something of an actor. But its in Garfield that “The Social Network” finds someone worth caring about. Garfield, a sensitive actor, connects to emotions the audience can relate to. It was nice of the movie to throw us a bone.

David Fincher, as director, melds everything together in a way that makes sense. But something has to be said for my missing of the zest he brought to earlier pictures, such as “Fight Club” and “Seven.” Those movies weren’t nearly as respectable as “The Social Network,” but they also had more life.

Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter, will probably win an Oscar for his work. His dialogue is fast, funny, and clever and his characterizations are interesting and intelligent. But his script is also slow and uneventful at times and his statement on youth culture is obvious. The last scene of the film, reflecting sadly on the fragmented conditions of our social lives, is as relevant as it is superficial.

“The Social Network” is a good movie; one just wishes it had taken more chances.