Clear Vision on a Cloudy Day

Just Watched: The Social Network
When I first heard that David Fincher was making the so-called “Facebook movie,” I wondered what kind of film he’d actually end up making considering his previous body of work, which include gems like Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac. I, like most others, didn’t really know how something like this could be shown in the form of a full-length feature film, and not a documentary of sorts. The trailer for this film sure did look interesting, but showed that there wasn’t really a documentary feel to the proceedings, which was good.
When Bhagyalakshmi came up with the idea of going to watch the film, most of the others were non-committal, except for Vishnu. Yashik came along expecting what we initially expected, and he, like BL, Vishnu and me, was pleasantly surprised. Fincher has managed to adapt Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires for the big screen with style, thanks to a superb screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.
For the entire duration of a film we see Mark Zuckerberg, played by the brilliant Jesse Eisenberg, as the antihero who has gone to some rather unusual lengths to satiate his bruised ego. Actors like Andrew Garfield (playing Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg’s roommate, and partner), Rooney Mara (as Erica Albright, the girl who dumps Zuckerberg here, after declaring that he’s an asshole) and Armie Hammer (playing both the Winklevoss twins) only add to the film’s charisma with its razor-sharp dialogue and amazing one-liners. Justin Timberlake (as Sean Parker, the guy who founded Napster) made me hate the character he played, and that, I guess is a good thing considering how much of an impact the character makes in the Zuckerberg-Saverin equation with his antics.
At the end of the day, this film is about the male ego (something Fincher has dealt a lot with before) and the damage that it can do. Here, Facebook is Zuckerberg’s online ego, which keeps inflating, even though Zuckerberg remains what he was in the first place- alone, with rather fascinating cards, which say- “I’m CEO, bitch.”
One of this year’s very best, no doubt about that.
Personal Rating: 8.7/10

When I first heard that David Fincher was making the so-called “Facebook movie,” I wondered what kind of film he’d actually end up making considering his previous body of work, which include gems like Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac. I, like most others, didn’t really know how something like this could be shown in the form of a full-length feature film, and not a documentary of sorts. The trailer for this film sure did look interesting, but showed that there wasn’t really a documentary feel to the proceedings, which was good.

When Bhagyalakshmi came up with the idea of going to watch the film, most of the others were non-committal, except for Vishnu. Yashik came along expecting what we initially expected, and he, like BL, Vishnu and me, was pleasantly surprised. Fincher has managed to adapt Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires for the big screen with style, thanks to a superb screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.

For the entire duration of a film we see Mark Zuckerberg, played by the brilliant Jesse Eisenberg, as the antihero who has gone to some rather unusual lengths to satiate his bruised ego. Actors like Andrew Garfield (playing Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg’s roommate, and partner), Rooney Mara (as Erica Albright, the girl who dumps Zuckerberg here, after declaring that he’s an asshole) and Armie Hammer (playing both the Winklevoss twins) only add to the film’s charisma with its razor-sharp dialogue and amazing one-liners. Justin Timberlake (as Sean Parker, the guy who founded Napster) made me hate the character he played, and that, I guess is a good thing considering how much of an impact the character makes in the Zuckerberg-Saverin equation with his antics.

At the end of the day, this film is about the male ego (something Fincher has dealt a lot with before) and the damage that it can do. Here, Facebook is Zuckerberg’s online ego, which keeps inflating, even though Zuckerberg remains what he was in the first place- alone, with rather fascinating cards, which say- “I’m CEO, bitch.”

One of this year’s very best, no doubt about that.

Personal Rating: 8.7/10

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