October 5, 2010, updated April 3, 2011 -- “The Social Network” is an interesting film about hard-working nerds who are very smart, but not likeable at all. Based on Ben Mezrich's nonfiction novel “The Accidental Billionaires” (which plays a bit fast and loose with the facts) about the battling creators of Facebook, the giant social networking internet site. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg of “Zombieland”) comes across in this movie like a brilliant, but cold sociopath. I don't see how he could even create a site like Facebook if he doesn't have a lot more humanity than his character has in this film. It turns out this portrayal is not accurate (see notes below). Watching this film, I got a bit more of an idea of what Facebook is, but I still don't know exactly why it is so popular. I've never entrusted my personal information to Facebook and this film doesn't provide any reason why I should.

The most human character in the film is Facebook's original CFO and Zuckerberg's best friend, Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield of “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”). His sense of betrayal is palpable during the lengthy legal deposition scenes in the film (much of the film is based on information from these depositions for two sets of lawsuits against Zuckerberg over his business dealings). Saverin was forced out of his CFO position after an argument with Zuckerberg, but he lost his position in a very underhanded, passive-agressive, way at the hands of his best friend. Saverin was also a consultant for author Ben Mezrich, who wrote “The Accidental Billionaires,” on which the movie is based. Another interesting character is Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake of “Black Snake Moan”) the creator of Napster and former President of Facebook. The rivalry between Parker and Saverin is a strong element in the film's plot. Although Parker is depicted as essentially weaseling his way into a multimillion dollar stake in Facebook, his connections with Silicone Valley venture capitalists also gave Facebook its first big infusion of cash.

The film also depicts Zuckerberg's other struggle against wealthy Harvard students Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (played by Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) who hire Zuckerberg to design a social networking web site for them, only to find he has been working on his own similar website when he was supposed to be working for them. They claim Zuckerberg stole their idea and took him to court. Zuckerberg's comes to the attention of the two after designing a website called “Face Mash” which allows people to compare pairs of pretty Harvard coeds. Zuckerberg is suspended for hacking into Harvard websites to get the pictures. He also makes cruel remarks in a blog online about a girl who broke up with him. Revenge seems to be a prime motive for Zuckerberg's actions.

Although the film's techno soundtrack and awkward flashbacks can be a bit disconcerting, it is a very interesting film about the creation of one of the most influential sites on the internet. It is also a study in human conflict, greed, and cutthroat business practices. There are some very ugly examples of mean-spirited behavior in this film. This story about the ugly side of human nature is informative and entertaining, but it isn't exactly real. It turns out that Zuckerberg is not the vengeful loner as portrayed in this film, according to David Kirkpatrick, author of “The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World.” Kirkpatrick, in an online article about how the film compares to reality, also notes that Saverin himself became a billionaire as a result of his lawsuit (a little fact missing from the film) and wasn't as much a victim as the film makes him appear. It also turns out that the Winklevoss brothers had very little to do with the success of Facebook, but got rich form it anyway. Kirkpatrick also reveals that Sean Parker had a lot more positive role in the development of Facebook than the film reveals.

In short, the reason those bothersome things in the film don't ring true is because they are actually false. That is a problem. In fact, this film seems a to have a tinge of left-wing anti-capitalistic envy, which may just be the source of the ugliness that bothered me. There is a lot of that in Hollywood, which may be the reason this unexceptional film is being seriously talked about as an Academy Award contender. This film is good, but not that good. The same thing can be said of the acting, which is certainly adequate, but there is nothing here that calls out for an Acedemy nomination, and only one was forthcoming, as it turns out, a notable lack for a Best Picture nominee.

It is revealing that Aaron Sorkin's screenplay award was the only major award won by the film. That's the same Aaron Sorkin who so expertly stroked liberal critics with such politically-tinged films as “The American President” and the popular TV series “The West Wing.” So you can get some awards by twisting a story so that it appeals to liberals, but here it is done at the expense of making the characters into simple good guys and bad guys. If Zuckerberg had been made into a more complex character, rather than a simple one, and some more complexity added to the other characters, this film could have been a modern version of “Citizen Kane.” Unfortunately, it is far from that. It rates a B.

I got a good laugh out of movie critic Manhola Dargis' story about her trip to the Academy Awards ceremony, wherein she wasted half the story whining and bitching about how “The Social Network” didn't win the best picture award. It must be nice to get an all-expenses trip to the Academy Awards ceremony and be able to get away with using a sort of implied movie review to pad your alleged newsy story. This sort of nonsense typifies the modern notion of newsiness, analogous to truthiness (with apologies to Stephen Colbert). Maybe that's one small reason the New York Times finds itself in such financial difficulty these days. The whining in this article reminds me a bit of a comment by Nick Denton, founder and CEO of Gawker Media, as quoted in The Atlantic, “What annoys me about the U.S. media? Generally the pompous liberals. I suppose they’re useful, but they’re such losers, with their endless hand-wringing.” Anyway this Manhola Agonistes red carpet account made my day. Very funny stuff.

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Copyright © 2010 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
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