Film Review: The Social Network

Nathan Westfall

The Broadside

“The Social Network” is definitely a front runner in the Oscar race thus far. With the nuanced performances of both Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Armie Hammer playing both of the villain characters, this film has acting Oscar bids firmly set. Also, the screenplay, written by Hollywood heavy hitter Aaron Sorkin, delivers such a punch that the audience will hardly notice that the whole movie revolves around writing code for a website.

The film, based on the novel “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich, tells the story of a young Mark Zuckerberg and his rise to fame and power as the creator of the worldwide social networking site Facebook. Throughout the film, the story jumps back and forth between the flashback of Zuckerberg’s life at Harvard and how the website was created and a more modern legal proceeding in which Zuckerberg is being sued for copyright infringement.

As the flashback sheds more light on the inception of the site and its meteoric rise in society, the legal proceedings unfold and become clearer. At the end of the film, the audience has come full circle as the verdict is dealt.

The combination of direction by David Fincher, the biting Sorkin script and the very believable performances by the actors is what holds this work above the rest. Each actor delivers the sometimes complicated dialogue with such precision that it is impossible not to be engrossed in their every word. Eisenberg’s portrayal of Zuckerberg stands out in particular as a character that the viewer can either interpret as a misunderstood introvert or a pompous jerk.

If you are paying attention as the Oscar race heats up, The Social Network is not a film to be missed. When Feb. 27 rolls around, it is guaranteed that the cast and crew of “The Social Network” will be walking that red carpet. So, next time you pull up your Facebook profile, keep this film in mind.

You may contact Nathan Westfall at nathanwestfall@gmail.com