The Social Network opens in 2003 with Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) sitting in a noisy bar with girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara – the new Lisbeth Salander). Mark, a Harvard undergrad, is trying to explain to Erica, a lowly (according to Zuckerberg) Boston University student, how important it is for him to get into one of Harvard’s prestigious clubs. The more Erica tries to assuage his fears of not getting in, the more aggressively and, absent-mindedly, he tears her down. “Dating you is like dating a StairMaster,” she tells him. But eventually Zuckerberg’s clueless cruelty wears her down (among other things, he tells her she doesn’t need to study. Why? “Because you go to B.U.”). She leaves the table and she leaves him prompting him to go back to his room and talk trash about her on his blog (“Erica Albright is a bitch…”). His frustration grows throughout the night (and the beers keep going down) and he has an idea that will change the course of his life. With his best friends’ help – Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield- the new Spiderman) – he creates Facemash; a website that matches up pictures of all the Harvard girls and asks visitors to vote on who is the hottest. Facemash brings Zuckerberg a bit of notoriety and three upperclassmen recruit him to write the code for their website; Harvard Connections. What follows is three different stories about how Facebook came to be.Director David Fincher cuts back and forth
between the creation of Facebook and the depositions of two lawsuits against Zuckerberg. One is from those upperclassmen – twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella), who say Zuckerberg agreed to help them establish their own on-campus social network, then stole their idea and formed his own. The other is from his former business partner and only close friend back then, Facebook co-founder Eduardo, who says he was cheated out of millions after providing the earliest financial backing.I went into this film looking to find fault. The hype was so big and loud and I have often found that that kind of hype can’t live up. In this case it does. However, the problem with hype is people start trying to carve the film into what it isn’t. The Social Network is not a documentary, nor is it about the internet or social networking in general. It is a character study about a guy who craves acceptance from his peers, but is lacking in all the social graces needed to advance in life. The fact that it has been called “the Facebook movie” from Day One has really made it easy to misunderstand it; look deeper than the surface and you find a tale of friendship, revenge, betrayal, fame and fortune.
Here is where I would normally do a “good & bad” list, but I really don’t have any bad to list, so I’ve instead broken it down into 3 groups to talk about. It’s rare, but in this film the three most important parts of a film – the actors, the director & the script – all came together perfectly.
The Actors
Jesse Eisenberg – I first “met” Jesse in The Squid and the Whale back in 2005 (if you haven’t seen this tiny indie film, do yourself a favor and rectify that) where he played a teenager torn in the middle of his parents divorce. His performance was so subtle yet hit home so profoundly. I knew he would be someone to look out for in the future. In 2009 he stared with one of my absolute favorites, Kristen Stewart, in Adventureland and I fell in love. I am happy to report that my love affair with him did not wane at all while watching The Social Network.
Eisenberg gives a tour de force performance as he takes Zuckerberg from an unlikable, condescending, cocky, arrogant and snobby asshole to someone who you almost feel bad for. This is a role that Eisenberg seems to have been made for. The way that Jesse plays Zuckerberg with equal parts arrogance, innocence and vulnerability make him one of the most compelling on screen characters I’ve seen all year. He is blunt, selfish, funny and believes himself to be smarter than everyone in the room, which in some ways, he often is. It isn’t t
he kind of showy role that usually wins Oscars, but I hope the academy voters will be able to recognize what a precise and controlled performance this is. I can’t even imagine a scenario where he is not nominated.Eisenberg really is fantastic throughout the entire film – and make no doubt about it, it is his film – but there is one scene that while watching left me at the edge of my seat and days later I’m still consumed by. During a deposition scene with the twins & Div a lawyer is questioning him and not getting an appropriate response and asks Mark “Do I have your full attention?” The next few minutes following that question might be the very best in the entire film. The way that Eisenberg delivers his lines, the facial expressions he uses, the pauses in speech he makes are simply, for lack of a better word, breathtaking.
Andrew Garfield – Andrew’s Eduardo Saverin was my favorite character throughout the film, and I suspect that for many he is the walk away favorite as well. Eduardo is the conscience of the film. Where Mark Zuckerberg is cold and unemotional, Eudardo is the opposite – he provides the emotional pull for the film. Garfield’s heartbreaking betrayal when he learns that Zuckerberg has allowed him to be cut out of Facebook at the end is some of the best stuff of the film. Those last few lines he delivers are so emotionally powerful that the viewing audience at my showing actually gasped out loud. Garfield plays Saverin as such a likeable guy that you can’t help but root for him; so much so that when he tells Mark “You better lawyer-up asshole. Cause I’m not coming for my 30%, I’m coming back for everything.” you want to stand up and cheer.
In addition to his acting, I have to make a comment on his accent. Andrew has a natural British accent and, unlike many actors covering up their accent with an American one, I could not hear a trace of it. But more impressive than just covering up his accent with an American one is the subtle Brazilian inflection he gave to all of his lines. It’s just what I would expect from a wealthy Brazilian kid (Saverin) who’s most likely been speaking English (that he learned from the best teachers – in the most exclusive of Rio’s schools) from the time he was in 1st grade. A subtle accent like Garfield pulled off must be incredibly more difficult to handle and keep consistent from scene to scene. So much harder than laying it on thick and I thought it was brilliant. If I had academy voting privileges his name would most assuredly be on my ballot for Best Supporting Actor.
Justin Timberlake – He wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t a knock-out performance either. The Oscar talk for him seems, to me, absurd. The best I can say is that he didn’t detract from his scenes and Eisenberg and Garfield are so capable that he comes off quite good in his scenes with them. Not
buying into all the hype just yet. There’s potential there though...Armie Hammer – I would be remiss not to include Hammer’s performance of the Winklevoss twins. He played Tyler and Cameron. (Thanks to lots of technology and body double Josh Pence who stood in for Tyler’s body.) When Hammer played Cameron he was uptight and more formal. The formality also came out in his dialogue – his diction was more precise. When he played Tyler he was more laid back, his speech pattern was more fluid. In interviews, Hammer gives a good amount of credit to Pence, who not only contributed to the physical performance of the character but was also someone to act opposite. Upon viewing however, it’s completely obvious that it’s Hammer’s expressions and voice that define the physically identical twins as separate characters, personality-wise. The Social Network is not a special effects movie; and yet the fact that the special effects are utilized solely to service the narrative and isn’t gratuitous makes it more of an admirable achievement.
The Director
David Fincher – Many first met David Fincher in 1995 with his directorial feature length debut Se7en, and if not then, surely in 1999 with Fight Club. There has sense been Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). All that to say; Fincher is more than capable of making a good film – great even. So I was excepting some of that greatness with The Social Network. And he knocked it out of the ball park. Fincher is the kind of director who will take as many takes as he needs until he is completely satisfied with the shot; not the standard 3-5 and then move on and “use what you got”. (You know, time is money and all of that.) I don’t think he is someone who is willing to compromise at all. The opening scene that I talked about at the beginning of this post that I was so taken with was shot 99 times! And not because his actors (Eisenberg & Mara) couldn’t get their lines right or were constantly making mistakes. Eisenberg has commented that he was asked to play that scene at least 15 different ways – sympathetic, more compassionate, cruel, broken, indifferent. He talked fast, he talked slow. He smiled and laughed. He didn’t. And then afterward David Fincher sat down in an editing suite and found the take that he liked best, told the story best and fit his character best. And then he did this for every other scene in the movie. That takes dedication to your craft and commitment to producing your very best work. Why settle for anything less?
I also want to quickly mention another one of my favorite scenes - the rowing scene during the depiction the 2004 Grand Challenge Cup. What a visually stunning little detour. The cinematography and editing in that scene is just jaw-dropping. The way the actors moved into and out of focus and the tilt-shit camera shot was sublime.
January 25th the Oscar nominations are announced. Expect to see David Fincher’s name on the list of nominees for Best Director. Beyond excited for Fincher’s newest project The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which is currently filming.
The Writer
Aaron Sorkin – The man is no stranger to writing a great script; one quick glance at his CV will tell you. So, of course great things were expected; and thankfully delivered. The script is so well written and sharp with lightening-speed dialog that is brilliant in an almost mesmerizing fashion. The characters spit out the lines in such a way that you are captivated in every scene. There is great humor in there; and excellent come-backs. One-line “quotables” that we’ll be hearing for, I expect, years to come.Sorkin has talked about how there were three different groups of people that went into depositions (Zuckerberg, Saverin & Winklevoss twins/Div) and three different stories that came out. Those three points of view and those three stories are expertly written. And the most important thing he does is not force you, as the viewer, to pick who is right and wrong. (David Fincher gets some credit for this as well.) Sorkin (and Fincher) are careful to never take a definitive position; they never pick a side. They give you a look at the story from everyone’s perspective and they let you decide. And when I did decide? I realized that I could understand and empathize with every side. That’s a sign of great story telling.
At this point I’m sure it sounds like a broken record; but expect a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay to be among the long list of nominations for this film come awards time.
The Social Network - 5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment