The Social Network

I just got back from seeing The Social Network, the new David Fincher movie about Facebook and the first thing I want to do is get off Facebook. It is an understatement to say that this movie does not paint any of the participants in a good light, and founder Mark Zuckerberg comes across as the biggest a-hole of them all.

The story is pretty simple. A young hacker named Mark Zuckerberg comes up with the idea of connecting people through a social network, basically linking college facebook pages to more and more people so you can share information and become friends. The problem is, it may not have been his idea and he may have screwed a few people along the way. The story is told in retrospect as Zuckerberg gives testimony in two lawsuits that have been filed against him. He is portrayed as a know-it-all jerk, who ironically can not maintain a friendship in real life, but there is no doubt he is a genius. Justin Timberlake takes a great turn as a-hole number two, or Sean Parker the inventor of Napster, who shows up as the slightly older guy who has been through it all before and wants to help Zuckerman succeed, or make sure Parker makes some money this time around.

If you are at all dialed into the 21st century this is a must see film. It is very well written by Aaron Sorkin and beautifully directed by David Fincher. It is much more than the facebook story, it is a great film.