Another film that I watched while at the airport was The Social Network, a film centered around Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, and the controversy behind the scenes that was encountered. It is a stellar film that shows this genius attacking an idea all ADHD style and what he had to do to build this company. Much like Steve Jobs I have no idea how much is historically accurate and not, but it seems to be a raw enough story to be accurate to the actual events of the creation of Facebook. It shows many different stories moving all at once, the creation of Facebook and the court trials that incurred because of it. It speaks of intellectual property and the issues in that realm. It makes the audience aware that Mark Zuckerberg had an idea of something to do, but then when others approached him on executing a similar idea how he decided to create something along the guidelines of his and their idea. It also shows the perspective of those Mark Zuckerberg got the partial idea for Facebook from, and how they felt he had stolen their intellectual property. Honestly its quite funny watching in the movie these people attempting to try and tear Mark Zuckerberg down for “stealing their idea” when they never had the means to execute said idea. Anyways, it opens up an interesting dialogue about copyrights and personal conflicts between creators. It shows Mark Zuckerberg as an asshole, but that he wasn’t an intentional asshole. He was so caught up in creating Facebook that he didn’t realize the consequences of his interactions. He chose to surround himself by individuals capable of helping him grow the company, and he didn’t really know and or care how they did so. At least that is what the film seems to portray, of course the only people who actually know if there was intended malice are the real life people the actors represent.
The film is much like Steve Jobs in the regards of bouncing around and never really slowing down. The slower points of the movie are faster than those in Steve Jobs. The majority of everything in The Social Network feels like consecutive sucker punches as you have no real clue what is going to happen next. It makes for wonderful entertainment and relays an interesting story. The lead actor that plays Mark Zuckerberg in the film is so good at being an ass, that you honestly dislike him. Honestly, this film somewhat feels that is trying to preach that Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t an asshole but it kinda fails to do so in most regards. Like whenever they try to show emotions and how cool he is and how its all just a misunderstanding, they immediately follow it up with something that instantly degrades from that identity they are struggling to cultivate through the film. That’s just a personal notice, really that is the only thing that takes me out of the movie while watching it.
The Social Network’s visual style is diverse, most moments do feel like Guerrilla camera shots. However the film is dominated mostly by “fly on the wall” angles in my opinion. Which is amazing and contributes way more to the story telling. Though it does feel dull sometimes visually, the acting and pacing make up for that. It shows like rags to riches with the scenery. It is quite a stunning film nonetheless. The visual story telling is great, not my favorite but great.
Overall the film is good, it has some issues, but I think almost everyone should go see it.
4/5
-Ben