THE SOCIAL NETWORK (12a)

 Facebook. A website with 500 million members. One of the most popular websites on the planet, created by computer genius Mark Zuckerberg. It's most recent value price was 23 billion US dollars. Directed by David Fincher, with a cast of rising talent such as Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, The Social Network is an in depth look at the rough beginning of the world's favourite network site.


The Serious: 10/11
 "The Facebook film." The description might not sound interesting, but The Social Network is brilliant. It tracks the origins and creation of Facebook, from it's humble beginning as a Harvard University exclusive to the world dominating social machine it has now become.
 The Social Network focuses on two simultaneous lawsuits against Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, (an ever fantastic Jesse Eisenberg)showing him being sued for stealing the concept idea of Facebook and for misleading and stealing shares from his former best friend Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield).
 The story might sound bland, but in reality is incredibly engaging thanks to the characters all being grounded and real. The film is driven by the relationships between the characters and their own struggle for power in Facebook, something that so many people now use. Seeing the drama behind Facebook is a real eye opener, hugely absorbing and interesting to watch.
 The real world Mark Zuckerberg refused to endorse the movie, claiming that much of it is exaggerated and untrue. However, thanks to Aaron Sorkin's fantastic screenplay, Zuckerberg is painted as neither a hero nor a villain. By the end of the film, you are not fed a view of Zuckerberg's actions, instead being left to judge what you just saw by yourself and form your own opinion. The Social Network is not made from a particular point of view, which makes for a truly wonderful conversation piece with others who have seen the film, as everyone's opinion is slightly different.
 Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg brilliantly, and much of the film's drive can be attributed to his performance. He creates the perfect amount of nerdy ambition, emotional distance from the world and hyper intelligence necessary to make Zuckerberg feel human. He puts the audience in a state of question: Is he really such a bad guy? Or is he just finding a way to be accepted in the world? 
 The other two stand out performances come from Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake. Garfield is Zuckerberg's college best friend Eduardo Saverin, original CFO of "thefacebook" and one of the people seen suing him at the start of the movie. Garfield's performance is full of emotional depth and entirely believable. He is the shining light of good in the movie, and as the relationship between Saverin and Zuckerberg begins to diminish, Garfield wrenches every last drop of sympathy from the audience, rounding off a fantastic performance; it seems the future of Spiderman is promising for when Garfield steps into the webbed costume in 2012.
 Justin Timberlake's portrayal of Napster founder Sean Parker is sublime, giving us a character who is so smooth and crafty we instantly hate him. It's a great turn from the former popstar, who is honestly surprisingly good and definitely has a future in film.
 All in all, The Social Network is a story on two levels. For members and fans of the site everywhere, it's a look at the brutal past of Facebook and the emotional tornado of how it was created. For everyone else, it's how a group of people cope when one of them stumbles upon something world-changing and how far each will go to have a part in it.
 Catch this movie at the cinema. From witty dialogue to emotional depth, The Social Netowork has it all and certainly deserves 2 hours of your time. It might even be Oscar worthy.


The Fun: 2/11
 Put simply, The Social Network is a thinking film. Despite plenty of comical moments from Aaron Sorkin's dazzling script, there is nothing light hearted about the movie.
 This is in no way a bad thing, The Social Network is an excellent film, but isn't aimed at anyone after some easy viewing and fun. It requires deep thought, personal judgements on characters and a sharp mind to follow the story.
This isn't for the easy viewing among you, so save the cash.
But if you want something thought provoking, read above.


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