The Social Network (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

Friendship, Betrayal, And Success--An Online Social Revolution Is Born From A Real World Social Ineptitude
Director David Fincher is back in fighting form! Those fearing he may have lost some of his bite with the ponderous "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" or the disappointing returns of the criminally overlooked "Zodiac" need not worry. "The Social Network" is a caustically funny and incredibly contemporary look at the evolution of Facebook. Playing like a thriller and a blisteringly dark comedy, this terrific film may be Fincher's most sophisticated piece to date (and certainly his most riveting since the days of "Seven" and "Fight Club"). On paper, "The Social Network" might not sound exhilarating but with the perfect screenwriter (Aaron Sorkin) and the perfect cast (Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Armie Hammer)--Fincher's tale of betrayal, pride, and avarice has become one of this year's must see films.

While I'm sure that everyone knows the subject matter of "The Social Network"--very briefly, the film's plot construction is structured as two...

Mark Zuckerberg has 0 friends.
The hype that has been circling around this film is ridiculous. On Rotten Tomatoes 145 out of 150 reviews assert this as one of the year's best films, and half of them make comparisons to Citizen Kane. So to say my expectations for this film were high is an understatement, I expected it to be a masterpiece. And even with its small flaws, I can claim that The Social Network is our defining film.

The film is set up alot like Rashomon, and yes Citizen Kane. It moves back between Zuckerberg's freshman year at Harvard in 2003 when he invented facebook, and a few years later when he's fighting legal battles against his former best friend Eduardo Saverin and 3 Upper Class students who claim to have created the "Idea". I found switching gave this film a very quick pace, and in many ways deepened the stories thick layers even further. But like Rashomon we can never truly percieve who's version of the story is the truth. This also parallels our perception of the film: Did this...

Much better than I expected.
This was much better than I expected it to be (I expected it -- like Zuckerberg himself -- to be annoying!) It's true, for the first half an hour or so (as you acclimatise to the Harvard setting, and Zuckerberg's petty hostility toward (and inability to interact with) the social side of campus life) it is as annoying as expected, but you do get involved and it does become a great film.

Everything is very well shot: the campus atmosphere captured perfectly and the acting is first rate (especially Andrew Garfield as -- the only character who is really likeable -- Eduardo Saverin). It doesn't really follow a standard plot -- the story of how Facebook was founded (and how quickly it became a global success) is interspersed with two subsequent lawsuits against Zuckerberg -- though it is simple enough to follow. I think the main reason this works (as others have mentioned -- as well as the excellent direction by Fincher) is that Zuckerberg (and most of his peers) are portrayed as...

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