The Social Network

Right from the word go, The Social Network makes it clear it is not going to be a lazy watch. A rapidfire exchange between a young Mark Zuckerberg and his date in the opening scene sets a fast-paced tone for this movie. It makes it clear that you, the viewer, has to pay a lot of attention to what the actors are saying. Because as you’d realize later, a lot of the movie is a boardroom drama, where lawyers grill a disinterested Mark Zuckerberg over the events leading up to the founding and growth of facebook.com

Interspersed between the boardroom scenes are events from Harvard in 2003, where a geeky, socially awkward Mark Zuckerberg launches the predecessor of facebook.com in a drunken night of coding after being dumped by a girl. In the whirlwind days that follow, we see how one of the most ubiquitous of websites – www.facebook.com - came into being.

What makes this movie special is that it is purported to be based on real events not 50 or 100 years back, but a mere 7 years back in time. And we also get to see how facebook might not be one sole man’s idea or work. In parts, the movie resembles some of the documentaries on History & Discovery channel when people are recounting the events of the day. But what makes this movie stand out is the character of Mark Zuckerberg. His mind is shown to be capable of genius – yet his actions seem inscrutable and leave more questions than answers. And fittingly, the movie never answers some of the questions – leaving you to judge whose story you want to believe,

Acting-wise, it is a lesser known cast, but they make a big impression. More than Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Zuckerberg, it is Andrew Garfield - who plays facebook’s first CFO Eduardo Saverin - who wins the acting honors. He makes Eduardo an endearing friend – and also an uncontested winner of the proxy PR battle that this movie is. Justin Timberlake delivers an admirable performance as Napster-founder Sean Parker. That part of the movie is eye-opening. Also adorable are the Winklevoss twins, who apparently are played by two different actors, but with the face of one superimposed later on the others.

The Social Network is one of those movies which have an intricate storyline connected by crisp dialogues and not much action. But it is also the story of one of the biggest phenomenon of our times – facebook ! For that reason alone, it is a must watch. Admittedly, you’d enjoy the movie a tad more if you are a little technically inclined – I know I did. But you do not need a computer science degree to understand human feelings – and isn’t facebook all about the need to be connected with everyone ?