Serious Movie Lover

THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010/IN THEATERS) When I looked on Saturday, The Social Network held a 100 rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Impressive. And so is this film. David Fincher is back in his Zodiac form, but with a story from the present–not the past– that grabs hold of you and takes you right to the finish. Of course, it helps to have Aaron Sorkin as your screenwriter, right?! The movie is fast and engaging, and paints quite a picture of campus life just a few years back when Facebook was introduced from one guy’s freaking dorm room at Harvard—amazing! Fincher draws pitch perfect performances from the entire cast of young actors. Jesse Eisenberg is dead-on as the uber-geek Mark Zuckerberg, inventor of Facebook and of course the focus of the story here. Zuckerberg is smart as a whip, with virtually no social graces—focused like a laser on what his fellow students really want to know about each other (is he/she single and available?). Also wonderful is Armie Hammer, playing the Winklevoss brothers, who offer something of a little comic relief to the story (IMHO) as the embodiment of Harvard wealth, social-status and jock-dom (they’re Olympic rowers, mind you). Be sure to enjoy their scene with then-Harvard President Larry Summers—hilarious. Andrew Garfield gives us a very sympathetic Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg’s roommate, only friend and CFO of Facebook, who gets royally screwed when he can’t keep up. And just wait til you see the performance Justin Timberlake turns in as Sean Parker—inventor of Napster—who shows Zuckerberg how to think REALLY BIG! In all respects. Timberlake says he lobbied hard for this role, and good for him—he looks super-smart, super-sexy and full of the cocky confidence you’d expect from Mr. Napster himself. There is already talk of Oscar nods in many directions for this flic—Eisenberg for Actor, Timberlake for Supporting, Fincher for Director, Sorkin for Adapted Screenplay, and not least of all—Best Picture. I’m all for it. Bring it on.

Grade: Big A

BTW: Check out more Oscar buzz talk here.

Tags aaron sorkin, andrew garfield, armie hammer, david fincher, facebook, jesse eisenberg, justin timberlake, mark zuckerberg, the social network