November 12, 2010
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara
Director: David Fincher
The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, is my favourite film this year. It’s also one of the smartest films I’ve seen recently, and it’s packed with rapid-fire dialogue that’s so rich, so clever, you’ll want to see the film a second time to enjoy it all over again.
A story about the founding of Facebook may not sound like an exciting premise for a thrilling movie. But Sorkin seeks out the human drama behind the birth of one of this century’s biggest pop-cultural breakthroughs, and uses that as the centerpiece for his terrific script.
Jesse Eisenberg stars as Mark Zuckerberg, the geeky Harvard student who in 2004 started Facebook in his dorm room, launching a social media revolution, and becoming the world’s youngest billionaire at 26. Zuckerberg’s rise to fame also spawned two lawsuits, the first from fellow Harvard students, the Winklevoss twins who accused him of stealing their idea and turning it into Facebook. Zuckerberg was also sued by the site’s initial financial backer and his only friend, Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield), for denying him fair credit and his promised share of profits.
The real Zuckerberg, incidentally, has dismissed the film as pure fiction. It’s not hard to see why. Based on Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires – although Sorkin famously did his own research – the film portrays Zuckerberg as a neurotic nerd who has terrible social skills; who came up with the idea of Facebook after he was dumped by his girlfriend; and who sold out the only friend who stood by him.
Zuckerberg may not be shown in a flattering light, but he makes for a compelling character. The great irony, and the film’s key observation, is that the man who connected as many as 500 million people through a common platform, might himself be the loneliest guy in the world.
Fincher and Sorkin dramatize the story by employing a non-linear narrative, jumping forward and backward through time to cut between the creation of Facebook and the subsequent lawsuits against Zuckerberg. The dialogue is so sharp and the soundtrack so haunting, they give the film an edge-of-the-seat quality that’s hard to describe.
As Zuckerberg, Jesse Eisenberg is excellent, creating a paradoxical figure who’s ruthless and arrogant one moment, nervous and innocent the other. In the end, you never quite feel like you’ve figured out Zuckerberg and that’s appropriate in this kind of film, which asks of you to decide if he’s hero or villain.
Andrew Garfield offers a solid performance as Eduardo Saverin, CFO of the fledgling Facebook, and Justin Timberlake brings suitable rock-star flair to the part of Napster founder Sean Parker, who befriends Zuckerberg.
Ultimately The Social Network is a riveting tale of friendship, trust and betrayal. While the film’s biggest strength is unquestionably its genius writing, Fincher directs with a confident hand, delivering a visually crisp palette to match Sorkin’s biting lines.
I’m going with five out of five for The Social Network. It’s the best film I’ve seen this year — a smart film for a smart audience. I recommend you catch it at the cinema right away!
(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)
I disagree. 5/5 for this film is way too much! I would have gone for 3.5/5. It is a great movie but there is really nothing that big in it. 🙂
Comment by Yadhav — November 12, 2010 @ 10:42 pm
WTF! Shit skyline released and no this epic film. F*** you distributors
Comment by Kunal — November 12, 2010 @ 10:42 pm
I am really looking forward to see this movie …GR88888
Comment by BAIBHAV — November 13, 2010 @ 1:19 am
dont agree with you i dont see anything wirth 5 stars .nothing more than 3 a average movie .i do not disagree its engaging stiryline
Comment by john — November 13, 2010 @ 5:38 am
most definitely overrated…….
Comment by Kushal — November 13, 2010 @ 6:47 am
fincher at his best……….but due date was more exciting 2 me
Comment by antony — November 13, 2010 @ 9:22 am
Hello sir,i am completely disagree with you.We love Jesse Eisenber[very fast n funny dialogs] that doesn’t mean It is a 5 STAR movie.What about Inception,Toy story 3,A single man,Their story telling is superb. I watched Inception 3 times and The social network 2 times where Inception,the best sci-fi thriller i have ever seen and the social network is lack of something like The ending is like director wants to finish the movie soon.I feel there is something missing before ending.
But this year’s best till now 1-Inception,2-Toy story-3
Hope The king’s speech will be great
But The social Network is not near 5 STAR But Inception was
Comment by priyabrata — November 13, 2010 @ 1:45 pm
i loved the film alot too bt still Fincher had made better movies before… it shud be a 4 since 5 seems too much…
Comment by sumit — November 13, 2010 @ 2:38 pm
I can’t question the taste of Mr. critic here. He has a right to it. But when you earn your bead and butter from commenting on films, one should try and take one’s job a bit more seriously. Sadly enough in this case, 5 stars to TSN will undermine RM’s credibility as a reviewer. Having watched TSN based on 5stars, I am definitely not going to take this reviewer and his reviews seriously any more!
Out of 10 stars may be this movie deserves 6-7!
Comment by Rajkamal — November 13, 2010 @ 7:44 pm
5 out of 5….huh are you kidding me….good film bt not the best
Comment by chetan — November 13, 2010 @ 8:11 pm
5 sun stars for the movie sir!!!one of the best movies i have ever seen!!!!
Comment by Ranjan — November 13, 2010 @ 10:03 pm
Great Review And Great To See My Favorite Movie Gets 5 on 5…
Being a computer software enthusiast myself I feel so motivated with this movie’s first half.
Irony of this movie is so very shocking and loved the way movie ends.
Flawless, Sharp and Fun.., I can’t wait to buy a DVD of “the social network”
Bollywood Please Take Tutions From this Movie…. I’m sick n tired of your B-Grade Comedy Movies…
Comment by Tanmay — November 14, 2010 @ 5:16 am
Hey gr8 review for a very good film..but i disagree with 5 out of 5..its definitely a good movie but not worth more than 4 stars or 4.5 stars max..
Comment by Amol Panditrao — November 14, 2010 @ 8:39 am
The BIG Blunder Mistake you have made in 2010 was giving 5/5 for this film…
Comment by harsha — November 14, 2010 @ 8:43 am
Here is my review .. on THE SOCIAL NETWORK , saw it yesterday! …. Completely blown away!
http://celluloidpoints.blogspot.com/2010/11/social-network-by-david-fincher.html
Comment by Tanuj — November 14, 2010 @ 11:45 am
good review but it was not such a perfect movie, considering it is advertised as a true story movie, but contains a lot of fiction all the same…. 4.5 stars, I think rajeev goes by the general consensus earned by the movie from top critics, when reviewing ‘their films’, kind of echos their voices… Which is easy too, cause ‘their films’ have a delayed release here, so he has the time to do the homework….
5 out of 5 is too much 4.5 would ave been good…
But about the movie… wooof it was a great pacy movie,, inspiring…!
Comment by Durgeish Sirwani — November 14, 2010 @ 12:10 pm
I totally agree with Masand, this is one of the best movie of this year.
Comment by Rohitash — November 15, 2010 @ 5:18 pm
I agree the movie is very, very entertaining. The dialogues are sharp and and what’s a fairly simple story has the narration of high drama. The only thing that’s not cool about the movie is that it pretends to be based on real life and real characters. The truth of the story aside (which has already been heavily contested), nobody talks like the characters in the movie! Sorkin goes a tad overboard by writing dialogues that are way too smart and funny for 20 year olds – yeah, even if they’re 20 year olds who go to Harvard.
Comment by Param — November 15, 2010 @ 7:19 pm
I disagree with the rating for this one . The movie is brilliant and It really has an awesome screenplay but it is surely not worth 5 stars. Last year it was avatar and this year it is “THE SOCIAL NETWORK” . Avatar was good but not worth to be rated 5 stars. both of them are worth 4 stars .If you are really willing to give a 5 star it should have been for “Inception”.
Comment by Roney Mathew — November 15, 2010 @ 8:28 pm
5 star is too generous.. agree social network is one of the best movie of the year. i think it 3.5 -4 ..
eagerly waiting for 127 hours & The Fighter to release in India.
Comment by Vinod KV — November 15, 2010 @ 11:27 pm
i totally agree wid u…..its a brilliant story…and n exceptional direction…5/5 is wt it deserves..!!!!!!!!
Comment by Priyank Shukla — November 16, 2010 @ 11:43 am
Awesome movie… could not agree more with Mr Masand.
Comment by avishek singh — November 19, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
Loved it totally, It was all about the great idea which could reach out to millions of people out there…Except the stupid applications on FB, i love both FB & the movie, Totally 5 out of 5, especially you are into computers, geek or not doesn’t matter, we are talking about the elegance of a product which is free to users but yet generating such big revenues for the company itself !
Comment by astrosunilnomy — November 19, 2010 @ 11:05 pm
Goodness gracious! So Rajeev, is this ur definition of a perfect film? So by 5 on 5 u re actually claiming that it’s THE perfect film and the best film of all time? What the hell! I agree its too gud a movie..but u ve got carried away like how a small child gets carried away wen he gets a chocolate..In my opinion,no film deserves a 5 on 5..and particularly Social Network. Andrew Garfield was hardly impressive. he was on the other hand shoddy… and the fact that its an adapted screenplay..4.5 may be..but 5 on 5? Hell No! U re out of ur mind pal..Grow up.
Comment by Rancho — November 20, 2010 @ 1:14 am
Agree with ur review, purely bcos I enjoyed the film a lot. What snappy dialogue, and what real performances from Justin to Jesse and particularly, Andrew Garfield. U got it rite in this one, like most others.
Comment by Zarna — November 20, 2010 @ 11:09 pm
Agree.
Comment by Somesh — November 22, 2010 @ 1:27 am
hang on guys.. he said it was 5 out of 5 for smart audience.. if u don’t see the genius in this movie may be you guys don’t have a good taste..
Comment by shiv — November 29, 2010 @ 4:12 pm
Definitely FULL marks. Watched 10+ times @once per day.
@WHO THINK TSN IS AVG NOT EXCELLENT
Tell me 1 thing which was not good in this movie??
Comment by Rahul — December 12, 2010 @ 3:35 pm
I dont kno what the prob with some ppl. but as far as i am concern it is worth it… 5/5 is still less…
Comment by Sidhartha — December 18, 2010 @ 11:47 am
5/5 is rating this movie completely deserves….any1 who thinks any lesser jst dont hav taste for th movie.. thy belong to b grade comedy of our bollywood…lik golmaall..bettr watch those only…dont even compare this movie with those..its gonna b shame…..awesome job rajeev….cant agree mor….its th best movie of th year…atleast 3 oscars confirmed…best actor, best screenplay , best movie….mark my words on it..cheers
Comment by vicky — December 25, 2010 @ 3:23 am
more like a 4 .5 for me
wanted a little m ore at the end
Comment by arjun — December 26, 2010 @ 9:54 am
this is the best film of the year 5.5 out of 5.People who dont give it 5 on 5 want to stay in unreal world of inception 🙂
Comment by Pragnesh — December 30, 2010 @ 12:00 pm
i like the film and dalogs but most of the scene are too long .i like cfo of facebook,
Comment by chintan — January 27, 2011 @ 2:25 pm
Undoubtedly a good movie…….But you have hugely overrated the film….5/5 is too much……I watched the film & liked it….but I still can’t understand what prompted you to give it 5/5…..I would give it a maximum of 3.5/5……You occasionally overrate & underrate films……You gave 4/5 for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna which is still a shock to me…and you rated 3 Idiots & My Name is Khan (which got 3/5 and 3.5/5 respectively) below KANK…..I still can’t believe how you could do this
Comment by Deepu — March 7, 2011 @ 10:47 am
It’s a great movie i’ve ever seen in my life.
The movie’s object is never about founding facebook but about the aspects of life like trust and betrayal.
All the actors and writer, director have done excellently well. and what say to music from Trent Renzor.
It’s been almost 8 months and i’m listening to the same piece of soundtracks by him again and again, each day.
The movie has all the characteristics to be tagged as “The best movie of 2010”
The 5 out of 5 rating is a suitable judgement to the film.
Comment by Sushant — June 4, 2011 @ 1:43 am
yes.it’s a great movie.5/5
Comment by anonymous — June 22, 2011 @ 6:10 pm
I competely Disagree 5/5 considering You are a critic and the way you have underrated many good movies previously.4/5 is a maximum i would give to this movie..!
Comment by SUDEEP — July 6, 2011 @ 12:45 pm
This movie is worth 7 stars, not just 5. I’m not saying its the best movie of all time, but in its category, everything abt this movie is so perfect, that its a must watch. Way to go Masand.
Comment by Pooja — July 9, 2011 @ 2:00 pm
super-smart muvee!!
5 outta 5,unquestionably..
every tym i see this movie,i find something new,,d background score z so viral n d dialogues so witty i dont get tired of it,,right from d initial scene to d way he comes back to his dorm,d score at that moment n d picturesque view of d campus at night gives it an edge of d feel..sorkin n fincher showed how a normal sounding premise can still be made edgy..so impressed with eisenberg that i almost memorised d dialogues,,garfield was awesome too,waitin 4 d spidey release just to watch him..
worth many watches..
Comment by vineet mishra — December 11, 2011 @ 10:10 am
awesome movie. superb dialogues and screenplay. its addictive like facebook. most powefull dialogues are delivered effortlessly. drama at its best. movie of the decade for sure.
Comment by piyush — December 26, 2011 @ 9:18 pm
No doubt its a superb movie.
I enjoyed it a lot.
But 5 star means I didnt see a better movie than this. Its not true.
So I will give it 4 star
Comment by Biman Saha — February 2, 2012 @ 1:43 am