The Social Network

Rating:****

Movie Review: Mark Zuckerberg has said the makers of this film “couldn’t wrap their head around the idea that somebody might build something because they like building it”. In The Social Network,Zuckerberg would create Facebook and become a billionaire because he wanted to be the guy looking out,not always the one peeping in. How you judge the film will depend on how you would like to see Zuckerberg — as a sophomore ‘nerd’ wanting to get into the right clubs at Harvard and not knowing how,or the self-same nerd deciding that those walls needed to be pulled down? Would a person such as one that the film portrays,with few friends and an admirable ability to lose the ones he has,imagine a site that finds a whole new way to “stay connected” out of anger? Or would that person be driven by what the real Zuckerberg lists as his “interests” on his Facebook page — openness,revolutions,minimalism?

The Social Network imagines Zuckerberg as a guy who is not bad but who just can’t find a way to be good; who is far from stupid but who can’t see the wisdom in others; who cuts cruelly and coldly through the motivations of his accusers but is a sucker for the flaky flashiness of Napster’s Sean Parker; and who takes and takes without giving much back. Partly inspired by the book ‘The Accidental Billionaires’ by Ben Mezrich,and largely written by Aaron Sorkin,it is a convincing portrayal. It certainly isn’t difficult to believe the “youngest billionaire on earth” as having trampled on a few heads on the way.

Eisenberg’s delicate balance of truth and the way his character obviously imagines it is a classy act; his face showing what his mind won’t let him. Even when the denouement comes,Eisenberg lets you see the chinks but the wall never comes down.

For Zuckerberg of The Social Network,”being cool”,and not being seen as one,define his universe. In other times,geniuses were genial creatures happy in own universes. But in the world of today,a genius is any small kid with a big idea,and ambition far from a dirty word.

Here they have to be the inventions they make.

From his very first exchange with girlfriend Erica (Mara),it is clear Zuckerberg is intellectually arrogant,socially inept and insecure,and not very respectful towards women. When she breaks up with him,he posts a blog commenting on everything from her birthplace to her bra size and then,in an angry and drunk four hours,creates a website (Facemash.com) hacking into Harvard University databases and posting photos of women next to each other,asking those logging in to rank them. He gets 22,000 hits.

In his second exchange,that with his friends and room-mates,he is shown as selfish,using them more or less without scruples. In his third exchange,with lawyers,he is openly contemptuous and as sure of his superiority. There is only one guy he defers to,and that is Parker (Timberlake). He listens with awe when he talks grandiosely,watches with admiration as he flirts outrageously,believes him when he boasts continuosly,and copies him even against his better sense.

Eduardo Saverin (Garfield) is the other big factor in Zuckerberg’s story. His “only friend” in college,and the guy who put up the money to start Facebook,is a Jewish,nervous sophomore like Zuckerberg but with money,looks and better luck. More importantly he is not stupid — a fact that Zuckerberg doesn’t like much,running contrary to the broad categories he slots people in. Even as he asks for and takes Eduardo’s money,it is with reluctance that he shares the credit of Facebook “co-founder” with him.

Fincher tells the story of Facebook through the two suits filed against Zuckerberg,one of them by Eduardo,when he was almost cut out from the company after it became a phenomenon. During the trial,Eduardo (the real Saverin incidentally aided Mezrich with the book) comes across as kind,understanding and even sympathetic towards Zuckerberg — admirable given what the film shows Zuckerberg putting him through.

The other suit against the Facebook founder was by the Winklevoss twins (played by the un-related Hammer and Pence) and Divya Narendra (Minghella),who accused him of stealing their idea of a site where friends could meet and share stuff. Their idea was to be called The Harvard Connection. Zuckerberg’s reply to them is simple: “If they

were the founders of Facebook,they would have founded it.” The rich and athletic Winklevosses exude entitlement,but pale in the shadow of the Zuckerberg force. One of their most entertaining encounters is with Harvard President Lawarence Summers,in which they are summarily put down by the famously acerbic head.

The women are the biggest disappointment of The Social Network,a charge that has been levelled at the film. Almost everything that Zuckerberg does is pared down to “bedding a girl” — saying nothing for the women in question. And Zuckerberg never does get a girl in the

end,again saying little for the women in question.

But,according to Sorkin,”I don’t want my fidelity to be to the truth; I want it to be to storytelling”. And this is master storytelling,creating characters you can recognise,feelings you can imagine,and tracking — even if through an arguably fictionalised account — a phenomenon that’s come to touch the lives of 500 million people on the planet. Eisenberg we have talked about,but Garfield and Timberlake are as impressive,with Fincher creating three distinct and three very vibrant personalities.

As the film ends,Zuckerberg sits alone at a lawyer’s table,before going to the Facebook page of the girl who had dumped him,which started it all. He moves the cursor to “Request to add as a Friend”,pauses for a while,and then clicks. As the credits roll,he is still refreshing,waiting for a reply.

shalini.langer@expressindia.com