A movie about Facebook starring the current king of loveable geeky losers and Justin Timberlake?
I'll pass.
A movie about Facebook written by Aaron Sorkin, directed by David Fincher, and also starring the new Peter Parker?
Oh, go on then.
Unlike Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg himself, The Social Network rarely puts a foot wrong. In choosing Jesse Eisenberg to play Zucker, it gives welcome vulnerability to a role which otherwise would be hard to sympathise with. The fictionalized account of the legal squabbling, back-stabbing and bitterness surrounding the origins of the common people's favourite website (being a web-snob and misanthrope, I hate Facebook) allows Aaron Sorkin to do what Aaron Sorkin does best - take complex legal, business and even technology-based issues and weave a human story out of them, using his trademark snarky, fast-paced dialogue and oodles of sharp wit. David Fincher's direction, by contrast, is competent yet unshowy (apart from one rather tacked on boat race sequence set at Henley Regatta). He does present Harvard as a dark and gloomy place where you wouldn't be at all surprised to find Gwyneth Paltrow's head in a box, but apart from that he seems content to let the script and cast carry this story. Eisenberg does very well with his most difficult role to date, the Kid Who Would Be Spider-Man convinced me he's up for that part, and Justin Timberlake was a dick... perfect casting all round then.
The only question I have left is just HOW Facebook became a billion-pound business. I get the advertising potential, but I can't say I've found myself ever noticing the ads while I'm on that site. Admittedly, unlike many people, I don't spend a lot of time on there (once a week, maybe even less) - but are there really billions of advertising bucks to be made from just one website? That's one thing I wish Sorkin had explained in snappy, Howard Hawks style back-and-forth banter... 'cos I just don't get it.
Oh, and in case you missed yesterday's late announced celebrations - this is Sunset Over Slawit's 1001th (1001st?) post. I demand a cake!
