I'd been waiting to see this one for a while. Facebook is such a recent phenomenon really, invented in 2004 it has grown to be an intrinsic part of daily life for more than 500 million people. However, this world-changing site was invented by a computer geek at Harvard when he was an undergraduate. This film covers that period of Mark Zuckerberg's life as he develops the germ of an idea into a massively successful website, it explores his relationships with the people who helped and influenced him, and documents the court cases that plagued the early years of his success.
The script is written by Aaron Sorkin, of West Wing fame, and it shows. Zipping along on a plot strung tight with tension and intrigue the dialogue is snappy and smart. Occasionally sounding incongruous coming from the mouths of just-past-teenage boys, but then these are Harvard students, Sorkin's script is definitely one of the biggest contributors to the success of a film that is basically about a bunch of socially awkward geeks. David Fincher directs, and his beautifully rendered shots, seen before in Benjamin Button, also have the excitement and swift editing of Fight Club, which ramps up the tension further. Who would have thought coding could seem so glamorous? Zuckerberg's fingers dance across his keyboard with the intensity of a concert pianist's and make coding look as exciting as a fencing match.
Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) isn't a natural Hollywood hero. Awkward, occasionally cold, and with little, if any, natural charm, it's difficult to sympathise with our central character, which is perhaps the one problem with the film. Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin is the one we really care about - formerly Zuckerberg's best friend he provided early funding for "The Facebook" but was gradually edged out of the party by zany Napster inventor Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who latches onto Zuckerberg and seduces him away from his college pal. Saverin sues Zuckerberg and I found myself rooting for him as he fights to retain a percentage of the company he helped to form. More natural baddies are the Winklevosses, self-righteous and wealthy, they also sue Zuckerberg believing that he stole the idea from them after they hired him to build a social network for their college. It's unclear whether he did or not, but as arrogant trust-fund kids without the skill to create such a site for themselves, you really want underdog Zuckerberg to be in the right.
Whether you're a fan of Facebook or not this is a compelling and zeitgeisty film about a true entrepreneur. Guaranteed to make you feel slightly inadequate (he's only two days older than me, for pete's sake, and where's my multi-million dollar company?), it is also surprisingly inspiring and proved to be one of the most exciting cinema visits I've had this year.
Great review Sarah - I really agree. It even got a luddite like me excited!
Posted by: Lindsey | October 25, 2010 at 01:14 PM