Log on, look at your messages, see what friends are doing, talk to someone, upload, write a message, and log off. Then do that several times a day. These are the core mechanics of Facebook. An internet sensational lust that many check and treat like they would a child. We create images of Facebook of who we choose to be. To feel connected to our peers. Our generation, or "Generation Z" as some would say is plugged in and looking for a place to belong. Some of it is just simple fun, but there are limits. "The Social Network", the best movie of 2010, captures all of these feelings and none of them. It is a movie for us as people.
The story is a trip. Mark (A tremendous Jesse Eisenberg) is dumped by his girlfriend (a future star Rooney Mara) and looks to vent his feelings. He chooses the keyboard as his pen and his diary now a blog (hey that's what this is! ). As he dredges on, Mark and his roommates would create a website judging girls based on their looks. Hell you don't have to leave your desk to judge dozens now a days. The website is brought to the attention of some "powerful people" and they bring up the idea of a low level Facebook.
What follows is the story of a man who is connected to everybody and completely alone at the same time. Maybe Facebook is the only way Mark can connect to Generation Z. He fights with his best friend Eduardo (An Oscar-worthy Andrew Garfield) and alienates who won't support his future. His idol Sean Parker (A revelatory Justin Timberlake) is the devil on his shoulder, urging him forward, not maliciously, just instinctively. There is a scene in a night club where Sean is bathed in red light, Mark across from him in blue, but this light darkens as the conversation continues. The little things make this a great movie. By film's end we understand what the idea of power costs and rewards.
On a third viewing (I enjoyed it so much it's appeal will never fade) things become so much clearer. When looking at a comparison of Mark and the Winklevoss' there is a difference between them. The two live on a different social class level. Where Mark has to work for his money, the Winklevoss' have the money to make it through life without even trying. Now the twins work hard at some things (crew) but their final clubs makes them special. Mark tries to breach a new social class because he can not survive in his, he has bigger dreams. Mark is socially awkward and this makes it hard for him to climb the social ladder. The USA has a caste system, it's subtle and many deny it, but it's there. "The Social Network" reflects this.
This film tops my best of 2010 because you's be hard pressed to find a better crafted film with such a terrific series of messages. Aaron Sorkin has written the impossible, a movie about a website. His words help every scene flow like a perfect river. The cast is dynamic and proving big names don't mean big talent (everyone here shines with talent). Editing, sound and score (an ecstasy ride by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)fantastically tie together the fabric of this masterpiece. Then there is David Fincher working behind the camera as the mad genius that brought it all together.
There is a scene where Mark and Eduardo have a fight over the phone about a risky move Eduardo pulled. Eduardo is distracted over something quite dangerous when Mark unleashes a line over the phone that shakes me every time. "Do you want to go back to being a joke!?" Mark is an A-hole, but is not evil. He just suffers the fear that society deems our life essence. What was Mark's motivation to do all this, money, power, or maybe the girl that left him? (little hints throughout the film suggest this... and this is a movie, it's telling a story, just because in real life she wasn't there doesn't mean Mark didn't do this for a girl. Surdin said it best by saying "There is no such thing as truth here." The statement has more merit than it may look). Mark sits at the end of this movie on Facebook, sending a friend request and waiting for a response. He's pretending he is not alone.
10/10
Recommendation: Just see it, it's a perfect movie. Peter Travers says it fantastically http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-social-network-20100930
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