Finally saw "The Social Network"

I wouldn't say I was blown away by it, but it definitely lived up to my very high expectations.  The script was indeed as sharp and biting as everyone says it is, and combined with the music (which plays almost nonstop and actually annoyed me a bit after a while) gives the movie an almost frenetic feel.  This starts from the very first scene, before the credits, which is a fantastic volley of dialogue between Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara).  You watch their relationship implode- and you understand every iota of Erica's frustration with Mark- and by the end you're blinking and thinking, "Oh wow."  And then you come to the blogging-while-creating-Facemash scene and Mark's voiceover sounds like a computer voice because it's so fast and clipped and ruthless, and again, wow.

A few months ago I heard stirrings of Eisenberg being nominated for best actor awards, but I have to say that while he was very good, I thought the true star of the film was Andrew Garfield playing Eduardo (Wardo) Saverin, Mark's best friend and co-founder of Facebooker.  I totally understand now why everyone fangirls Garfield.  He's just adorable.  He manages to be cute even when he's dressed in a suit trying to be suave and grown up, and he does the kicked puppy look very well.  I no longer care that Garfield is British and 27 and that it's ridiculous for Sony to reboot a 10-year-old movie franchise in the first place; I'll watch him as Spiderman any day.  But aside from the actors, the movie also just seemed to focus on Wardo more.  The other stand-out was Armie Hammer, who played both Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the Harvard students (and 2008 Olympic rowers) whose idea for a social networking site Mark reputedly stole.  I'd heard great things about Hammer, and they were true.  Even in 2D the ginormous (really, really hot) twins seemed a force to be reckoned with, and Hammer did indeed distinguish their personalities.  I haven't seen enough of Justin Timberlake (playing Sean Parker) to know if his acting was good or if he was just playing a villainous version of himself, but either way he was fun to watch.

I also really enjoyed how the story played out.  It cuts back and forth between 2003, when Mark founded Facebook, and 2007 (I think), when he was being sued by both Wardo and the Winklevi.  This confused me at first b/c of a parallel situation at Harvard at the beginning, but once you got the hang of what was happening it was easy to follow.  I had no idea what the timeline of the movie was, but I liked the resolution.  I think the film did a good job of capturing the important events and relationships while not getting bogged down in legal proceedings.  It also emphasized that the movie was really not about Facebook's success but about its founding and the lives and relationships it changed.

I highly recommend The Social Network to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.  I bought it from Amazon the day after it won the Golden Globe.  It's hugely unlike me to buy something I haven't seen before (I was leaving the county within the week and couldn't Netflix it), but I definitely don't regret it.  I still think The King's Speech is better and deserves the Oscar- and Toy Story 3 is still better than both of them combined- but I wouldn't be heartbroken if The Social Network won.
( Specific reactions cut for spoilers )

Finally saw "The Social Network"

I wouldn't say I was blown away by it, but it definitely lived up to my very high expectations.  The script was indeed as sharp and biting as everyone says it is, and combined with the music (which plays almost nonstop and actually annoyed me a bit after a while) gives the movie an almost frenetic feel.  This starts from the very first scene, before the credits, which is a fantastic volley of dialogue between Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara).  You watch their relationship implode- and you understand every iota of Erica's frustration with Mark- and by the end you're blinking and thinking, "Oh wow."  And then you come to the blogging-while-creating-Facemash scene and Mark's voiceover sounds like a computer voice because it's so fast and clipped and ruthless, and again, wow.

A few months ago I heard stirrings of Eisenberg being nominated for best actor awards, but I have to say that while he was very good, I thought the true star of the film was Andrew Garfield playing Eduardo (Wardo) Saverin, Mark's best friend and co-founder of Facebooker.  I totally understand now why everyone fangirls Garfield.  He's just adorable.  He manages to be cute even when he's dressed in a suit trying to be suave and grown up, and he does the kicked puppy look very well.  I no longer care that Garfield is British and 27 and that it's ridiculous for Sony to reboot a 10-year-old movie franchise in the first place; I'll watch him as Spiderman any day.  But aside from the actors, the movie also just seemed to focus on Wardo more.  The other stand-out was Armie Hammer, who played both Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the Harvard students (and 2008 Olympic rowers) whose idea for a social networking site Mark reputedly stole.  I'd heard great things about Hammer, and they were true.  Even in 2D the ginormous (really, really hot) twins seemed a force to be reckoned with, and Hammer did indeed distinguish their personalities.  I haven't seen enough of Justin Timberlake (playing Sean Parker) to know if his acting was good or if he was just playing a villainous version of himself, but either way he was fun to watch.

I also really enjoyed how the story played out.  It cuts back and forth between 2003, when Mark founded Facebook, and 2007 (I think), when he was being sued by both Wardo and the Winklevi.  This confused me at first b/c of a parallel situation at Harvard at the beginning, but once you got the hang of what was happening it was easy to follow.  I had no idea what the timeline of the movie was, but I liked the resolution.  I think the film did a good job of capturing the important events and relationships while not getting bogged down in legal proceedings.  It also emphasized that the movie was really not about Facebook's success but about its founding and the lives and relationships it changed.

I highly recommend The Social Network to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.  I bought it from Amazon the day after it won the Golden Globe.  It's hugely unlike me to buy something I haven't seen before (I was leaving the county within the week and couldn't Netflix it), but I definitely don't regret it.  I still think The King's Speech is better and deserves the Oscar- and Toy Story 3 is still better than both of them combined- but I wouldn't be heartbroken if The Social Network won.
( Specific reactions cut for spoilers )