Image Source: Wikipedia
Directed by: David Fincher
Screenplay: AaronSorkin
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
Anything related to Facebook is going to spike up interest and if its a movie related to Facebook, all the more reason to watch it. Social Network is the story of Facebook – how it was created, who all created it, who were the friends, who were the enemies and what was the cost involved and not just in monetary terms.
Mark Zuckerburg is a Harvard University student who just got dumped by Erica Albright. Mark gets drunk and writes a damaging blog entry about her and gets an idea about a website which would rate attractiveness of females among compared to each other. He creates a site called FaceMash using his friend Eduardo’s algorithm which ranks chess players. The website gets so many hits that it brings down the Harvard network and Mark receives 6 months of academic probation as a result.
Website popularity leads Winklevoss twins to Mark who hire him as a developer for their website Harvard Connection which thrives on the idea of interaction on-line but the access is allowed to an exclusive set. Mark, instead of doing the work for Winklevoss twins, tries creating his own website, The Facebook, with basically the same idea as Harvard Connection but with slight twists to it. Marks tells this idea to Eduardo who then decides to fund Mark for the project.
Mark slowly expands the website beyond Harvard including other schools into it. Napster co-founder Sean Parker stumbles upon Facebook while using the laptop of a girl with whom he was sleeping and decides to contact Mark. Sean acts as a parasite in the entire venture as he becomes a 5% shareholder in the venture and makes Eduardo sign a contract which dilutes his shareholding from 35% to almost nil. Winklevoss twins knowing that Facebook is expanding rapidly decide to sue Mark for stealing their idea. Eduardo also decides to sue Mark over his diluted shareholding.
What I loved most about the movie is the way it has been presented. We keep shuffling between the court cases and the past trying to related what is happening and what has happened giving a good glimpse into the entire story behind Facebook. The performances of the cast is good. Jesse Eisenberg makes you believe that he is Mark and Justin Timberlake surprises you with his performance as Sean Parker. The soundtrack of the movie is also kick-ass.
The movie is based on the book Accidental Billionaires which is written by Ben Mezrich. Eduardo acted as the main consultant to that book but he broke off ties with the author when the court case between him and Mark was settled.
I rate it as a must watch for everyone who wants to know what was the real story behind Facebook. I am not sure if anyone who has no interest in Facebook would like the movie or not.
