#729) The Social Network (2010)

Class of 2024

Other notes

• Ben Mezrich’s publisher started shopping around the film rights to Mezrich’s book “The Accidental Billionaires” before it was even finished. Aaron Sorkin read an incomplete draft and was attracted to the conflicting testimonies given by Zuckerberg, Saverin, and the Winklevosses. Both the book and the screenplay take their historical details from the court transcripts of the various depositions, and no one directly involved with the creation of Facebook had any input on the final film (while Eduardo Savarin did serve as a consultant on “The Accidental Billionaires”, he withdrew once his lawsuit with Zuckerberg was settled).
• I don’t have the time to get into all the historical inaccuracies depicted in this film, suffice it to say that while all the major events are true to life, several details were changed, fabricated, or omitted for dramatic license. The biggest creative change was the “Rosebud” of Zuckerberg creating Facebook because his girlfriend dumped him. Also, it’s safe to assume that not everyone involved with Facebook’s creation tossed off rapid-fire witticisms 24/7. Sorkin has repeatedly stated that he was going for compelling storytelling over accuracy, but there’s always people who accept these kinds of films as gospel.
• Speaking of Sorkin, man alive does this movie pack in the dialogue. The first line is spoken before the opening Columbia logo has completely faded from the screen! I know this level of speed and density of dialogue is a Sorkin trademark, but I didn’t realize how quickly you need to hop onto that moving train. I now understand why my dad had a no-talking policy when “The West Wing” was on. With its creative structuring and seemingly endless supply of clever exchanges, Sorkin’s screenplay earns its reputation as the second best screenplay with the word “Network” in the title. Shoutout to Fincher and the cast for finding the right balance that prevents the dialogue from becoming overwhelming or impenetrable, and double shout-out to the editing team of Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter for maintaining that rhythm in the final cut.
• Everyone in this ensemble does such good work it’s hard to single anyone out. Jesse Eisenberg is great at tempering Zuckerberg’s aloofness and perceived assholic behavior; he may not be likable, but Eisenberg keeps him watchable. Andrew Garfield probably wouldn’t get cast as Eduardo Saverin today (same goes for Max Minghella as Divya Narendra), but he comes the closest to being this movie’s beating heart. And while I really don’t want to delve into anything related to Armie Hammer, I will give him kudos for playing both Winklevoss twins with zero distinction between the two. Bonus shoutout to Josh Pence, the body double for whichever Winklevoss Hammer wasn’t playing at the time.

• The rest of this cast is a smorgasbord of character actors. I even shouted “Hey, it’s that guy!” when both Wallace Langham and Brian Palermo appeared on screen. And thanks to Rooney Mara’s brief but pivotal appearance here we now have both Mara sisters in the NFR (Kate’s in “Brokeback Mountain”). Rooney Mara has stated that the opening breakup scene took 99 takes before Fincher was satisfied, confirming Fincher’s Kubrick-like reputation for a copious number of takes.

• Sorkin has a pretty ingenious way of unloading all the important details throughout the film: Exposition via deposition. We intercut with Zuckerberg’s various depositions with Saverin or the Winklevosses every time we need clarification of new information or story beats. These scenes also give us some of the best lines in the movie, including Zuckerberg’s claim to the Winklevosses: “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook.” Also showing up in these scenes, Rashida Jones as one of Zuckerberg’s attorneys. How can you hate a movie with Ann Perkins in it? Hey, that’s two “Parks & Rec” references in one post!

• I watched this movie with my wife, a former Facebook employee (although she was there long after the events of this movie). I’m not sure what I should and shouldn’t disclose about her thoughts on Facebook, but watching “The Social Network” with her made me understand some of the stories she has told me of her time there. Also, my wife informs me that hackathons were still a thing when she was there, though not nearly as fraternal as the one in the film.
• Justin Timberlake isn’t the greatest actor in the world, but he does well with his part, aided by the excellent casting choice: Sean Parker is portrayed here as a mega-celebrity within the booming tech world. And if the young woman he sleeps with in his first scene looks familiar, it’s Dakota Johnson; the future “Fifty Shades” star joining her grandmother on the NFR.

• Even though I was alive during the film’s 2003-2004 timeline, I had to be reminded of all the technology that has come about since the events of the film. Any time during my viewing I started to ask, “Why didn’t they just do x or y?” I would stop and remember that there were no smartphones or ride shares or social media to the extent we know it today (sorry, LiveJournal). As I was reminded recently, there is a short window of time between when something is new and when something has always been.
• Apologies to every actress in this movie playing a severely underwritten female character. Take the misogynistic boys club of the tech world, add Sorkin’s history of underdeveloped roles for women, and you’ve got a movie that hasn’t even heard of the Bechdel test. I thought Eduardo’s girlfriend Christy would make it out of the movie unscathed, but she just had to turn psychotic at the end, didn’t she? Oh, and Christy’s actor is Brenda Song, who I’m told was a big Disney Channel star in the 2000s. I’ll take your word for it; I stopped watching after they phased out Vault Disney.

• Easily this movie’s biggest flex is playing The Beatles’ “Baby You’re a Rich Man” over the end credits. That must have been half the budget right there. Also is it me or does “The Social Network” have more legal disclaimers than a typical film? I guess they took their own advice and lawyered up.

Legacy

• “The Social Network” was released in October 2010, and while it was well-received by critics and film geeks alike, it was unsurprisingly blasted by its real-life counterparts (although Mark Zuckerberg conceded that they got his wardrobe right). In fact, the only people who seem to have enjoyed the film are Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss and then-Harvard president Larry Summers (portrayed with delicious exasperation by producer Douglas Urbanski). “Social Network” continues to rank among the best movies of the 2010s and of the 21^st century (so far).
• The inevitable “Social Network” parodies are still going strong 15 years later, with the film’s more quotable lines and overall concept getting ribbed from time to time. My favorite is still the “How It Should Have Ended” video. “It’s our time, down here!” “Did…did you just quote ‘Goonies’?”