The Social Network

David Fincher is easily in my list of top ten directors of all time, but when it was announced he'd be making a film surrounding the production and legal affairs surrounding the website we all know and hate, Facebook, I was more than a little skeptical. However, Fincher surprised me like he always does and one of the more questionably sounding projects has become one of the best films I've seen this year. What many people probably don't take into consideration is the amount of social commentary to be had here and to tell the story of the construction of a website entertaining to an audience (especially these days) is almost impossible, but he found a way.

The Social Network follows Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg after a nasty breakup. Instead of getting drunk or making the rounds with the closest sorority house like a regular distraught teenager, he goes on to create one of the most visited and used websites ever. The film cleverly goes back and forth from multiple court hearings to Zuckerberg's starting days, where his attempts to create Facebook, his growing tensions with his friends and his fight to constantly be the best occur.

Fincher is able to get fantastic performances out of his actors and it's good that he has such talent to work with here. There's a collection of fine actors here (Jesse Eisenberg is one of the great actors of his generation, Andrew Garfield is making a name for himself with incredible speed, Justin Timberlake is surprisingly good, Rooney Mara is much better here than she was in the uninspired A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, etc.) who are utilized to their full potential. The writing in this was also amazing and deserves to be in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for this years' Academy Awards. Everything from the dark, powerful direction to the haunting score is near perfect and it's hard to find anything unfavorable to say about it.

It's also a treat to see the film tackle bigger themes and topics instead of just being a “Facebook” movie. Right when the film begins, it's apparent that it's less of a movie about Facebook and more about the sacrificing of one's friends to be successful and significant. It's the classic story of a nobody becoming a somebody and the lives that are ruined in the process (including the person in question) and it almost always makes for a brilliant story, and here is no exception.

It's disgusting being apart of today's technology driven society and seeing the shallowness and superficiality of being friends with people online can be pretty upsetting, especially with friendships becoming limited to a few texted words and IM's. Making a film surrounding the construction of the website that is almost completely responsible for this is a smart move on everyone's part. The fact that it's funny, entertaining and one of the best movies of the year seems to be the icing on the cake.