The Social Network Movie Review

Chances are, you're on Facebook. If you are, you should "like" the Dustin Off The Reels Page and follow us there, too. At any rate, Facebook has changed the way people connect with one another and how we communicate. It's also made its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, the second youngest self-made billionaire. It was not an easy struggle to get to that point, and the movie The Social Network (2010) shows us that story.

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a flurry of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. Despite his growing success and five hundred million people he had friended along the way, there were many eager to see him fall. Chief among them was Zuckerberg's former college friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), whose generous financial contributions to Facebook served as the seed that helped the company to sprout. Zuckerberg's bold venture wouldn't have evolved into a cultural juggernaut had it not been for Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) spreading the word in Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, the Winklevoss Twins (both played by Armie Hammer)  engage Zuckerberg in a fierce courtroom battle for ownership of Facebook that left many suspecting the young entrepreneur might have let his greed eclipse his better judgment.

I've heard The Social Network called "Facebook: the Movie" by a number of people. While Facebook certainly moves the story forward, the movie is about bigger ideas than an abstract reality like a website. There are a lot of powerful themes that go on in The Social Network; friendship, loyalty, jealousy, classism, power struggles, betrayal, social interaction, and lawsuits all manifest themselves in this compelling drama. Much of the struggle to get Facebook into the virtual powerhouse that it is now, resulted from modern ambition in a world of old business practices that were not yet up to speed with the growing virtual world.

Really this story could have been about the invention of anything, television, cameras, the first pulleys, etc. But what The Social Network is at its core, is about two friends who create something incredible that ultimately ends in breaking up their friendship. It's not really a happy movie; most legal dramas aren't pleasant affairs, but this one doesn't even have a clear cut protagonist to be rooting for. You genuinely feel sorry for just about every character at some point in the movie.

The Social Network is incredibly well written. It's a dialogue-intensive movie, and the dialogue is so well written that even scenes that would probably be boring to watch otherwise remain compelling and interesting. Zuckerberg's lines are often convoluted and confusing when he is trying to socialize with others, illustrating his social ineptitude. And when he's having to defend himself in court, he is a hard-biting logical machine that runs circles around the lawyers. Also, the movie has lots of dialogue that features two sets of jargon that make no sense to me: techno-babble and legalese. And yet, the legal proceedings and programming terminology are used and written in such a way that makes it all clear and easy to follow without having to be dumbed down to accomodate slow-wits in the audience as so many other movies do.

The acting was impressive. Eisenberg is known for playing the clueless "nice guy," but here he's like a blunt, fast-talking arrogant logician and is a heat-seeking missile in search of his own goals. Timberlake plays the highly charismatic and borderline insane Sean Parker who is both a hot shot and Zuckerberg's intellectual equal. Andrew Garfield plays an honest friend who is simply not the right man to be the CFO of the company that took off without him; he's a tragic character who deserves sympathy.

I liked The Social Network a great deal. It features a phenomenal cast, great acting, an outstanding script, and is a story to which nearly everyone on the planet can relate. Facebook is something that has arisen in the past few years and has changed the world dramatically. While parts of The Social Network was fictionalized, it's mostly accurate. It's a well-written drama and I enjoyed it. I highly recommend seeing this movie even if you aren't a fan of drama movies in general. And if you are a fan of good dramas, this one is worth owning.

What is a contemporary historical event you would like to see made into a movie? I think the down fall of the brick-and-mortar book store might be interesting, if a little depressing. Comment below and tell me about your idea!

Movie Review: In Time

Good science fiction makes commentary on contemporary issues in a unique, metaphorical way. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), comments about anti-communism McCarthy-era paranoia. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) critiques 1960s domestic racism. In Time (2011) is a creative science fiction movie that makes some interesting social commentary about issues of today.

In the future, scientists have discovered how to make people stop aging after 25 years. At this point, they have one year left; the minutes are visibly ticking down on a digital readout on their left forearm. Everyone is allowed to earn more time through work, gambling, or investment. As a result, time has become the main currency. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) lives in a time ghetto with his mother (Olivia Wilde), barely making ends meet with scarcely a whole day on their hands. Will rescues a wealthy, depressed man named Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer). They fall asleep after a long talk about life. Will wakes to find a century on his clock and Hamilton about to jump off a bridge. Will tries to stop him, but is too late. This is caught on a security camera; making Will a prime suspect in Hamilton’s supposed murder. Will uses his newfound time to get to a wealthier time zone. There he meets Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), daughter of the richest man alive, Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser), who is himself heavily involved in controlling the time markets. A Timekeeper police officer, Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy), attempts to arrest Will who takes Sylvia hostage. After seeing what the time ghetto is like, Sylvia decides to help Will overthrow the system that perpetuates the socioeconomic divide, all while eluding the Timekeepers.

In Time was written and directed by Andrew Niccol, who also wrote and directed Gattaca (1997). The two movies have some qualitative similarities; Niccol seems to make up an amazing and creative science fiction setting, and put an underdeveloped storyline into it. The premise in In Time is just fascinating! You see subtle background details about how time as currency has changed things; I like the 99 Seconds Store and the Timeshare Savings and Loan. This is some good science fiction that makes you think about the real world; the value of a dollar, how you spend your time, and the current economic status of the world. It does this very well. Unfortunately that is about all that In Time does. It seems to continually beat you over the head with the premise to make sure you know there is a socioeconomic divide, and that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Niccol could have developed story further and expanded the premise more; he just didn’t venture deeper into the movie’s potential.

Whenever I see Justin Timberlake, I can’t help but think of the boy band fad of the 1990’s. Timberlake was pretty good in In Time, given the script and material he had to work with. He pulls off the action hero look well: lean figure, facial stubble, and buzz-cut hair. I can overlook his *NSYNC years after seeing In Time. Cillian Murphy delivers a good, but different villain as Raymond Leon than he did as Scarecrow in Batman Begins (2005). He was suave and well mannered in his cruelty. His motivation for wanting to stop Will was selfish, but understandable. He is the kind of villain you like because you can relate to him on some level. Amanda Seyfried did a good job of playing a pretty sheltered brat. That’s about the extent of the character, but like Timberlake, she did a good job with what she had to work with.

In Time was a really interesting science fiction combination of Logan’s Run (1976), Bonnie & Clyde (1967), any Robin Hood movie, and the real world Occupy Wall Street movement. In fact, if you are involved with Occupy Wall Street in any way you’ll love In Time. I’d highly recommend seeing it. If you are not, I still recommend seeing it just because the setting and themes are so interesting. But since the story isn’t all that dynamic, I’d recommend a matinee viewing or just wait for it on home video.