The Social Network - Movie Review

I had heard that The Social Network (2010) was a movie about the founders of the multi-billion dollar, online social network, Facebook, and I have to admit that I didn't think the movie was going to be THIS GOOD! The audience was full of middle-aged people, and lots of couples of every age.

Based on a true story, a young college student, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg, pictured on the right), gets dumped by his girlfriend and it results in him making the most successful social networking site ever.  Break-ups can very emotionally charged, and it motivated Mark (now the world's youngest billionaire) to design a "cool" website that would allow college students to connect with each other.  The movie is about the legal battle that Mark had to go through to prove "ownership" of this social network idea.  Flashbacks of the events leading up to the legal battle are interspersed throughout the movie, forming the storyline. Passion fuels ideas, and at times Mark and his fellow students as well as an entrepreneur (Justin Timberlake, pictured on the left) are all wrapped up in the fast-pace and competition that accompanies the birth of "Facebook".  The only chase scenes in this movie were accompanied by beautiful cinematography - a rowing race for one, and Mark "chasing" his ideas across the Harvard campus.  Mark's friend Eduardo, and his competition, the Winklevoss twins were easy on the eyes, too.  It's also interesting to note that the twins were actually portrayed by one actor (I had no idea until I researched this movie on the internet) and there was a stand-in for the neck-down scenes of the "twins".

The movie also gives an important social message:  It is never a good idea to write something bad about someone on the internet.  A hurt, rejected Mark wrote some bad things on his blog the night he broke up with his girlfriend.  Those bad things cost him $65 million.  Mark was never really into money, and he was portrayed as a really good guy in the end. Justin Timberlake did a great job of acting, and I actually forgot it was Justin.  I also recognized one of the young female actors, Brenda Song (pictured on the right), from one of my 12-year-old daughter's Disney Channel's TV shows, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. In the Disney show, she plays the hotel owners spoiled daughter, London Tipton.  Talk about a different image on The Social Network.  She plays the psycho-groupie-girlfriend to Eduardo, Mark's (ex-)friend.  

There were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, too.  The music was great, also.


Overall, this was a very entertaining movie and it is sure to please.  Not for the kids though, rated PG-13, has some sex, alcohol, drug scenes and strong language.


The Social Network - on the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/

Have a great day!

~ Angela Gentile