Director Report Card: David FIncher (2010)

9. The Social Network

It was probably around 2005 when a cousin of mine asked me if “my school had a Facebook yet.” I had no idea what he was talking about. Social media was not a new thing at the time, and I was already obsessed with the idea truthfully, but I had all my eggs in the MySpace basket. It would be years before I got onto Facebook. But get onto it I did and, just like everyone else, the site is now a daily part of my life. Yet the idea of turning the story behind Facebook into a movie, back in 2010, seemed a little desperate to me. Surely, the foundation of the site where we liked photos and poked people wouldn't be that cinematic. Not even David Fincher – who I had drifted away from a bit, by this point – directing piqued my interest too much.

That all changed the minute I saw the trailer for “The Social Network.” Functioning as much as a short film as an advertisement for the feature, those two minutes convinced me that, yeah, a movie about Facebook could be good. Within a few seconds, over a montage of photos and comments and status updates, the trailer convincingly portrays how Facebook has changed the ways we interact with each other. Set to a hauntingly beautiful choir cover of “Creep,” perfectly chosen clips from the film – along with that brilliant tagline – illustrate a story about longing to belong and a bitter entitlement to status. “The Social Network” is a very good film but its trailer is a masterpiece.

But let's talk about the actual movie now. In 2003, Harvard computer science major Mark Zuckerberg gets dumped by his girlfriend. As an act of revenge he creates FaceMash, a website where Harvard students can compare female students by “hotness.” The site is extremely popular and crashes several Harvard servers. This catches the attention of the Winklevoss twins, rowing athletes and the children of a rich lawyer. They hire Zuckerberg to make a social networking website but he decides to make his own instead. Hiring friend Eduardo Saverin as the site's business manager, Mark builds The Facebook. The site becomes a phenomenon and spreads across college campuses. Napster inventor Sean Parker becomes involved, encouraging Mark to take Facebook to even bigger places. Soon, the Winklevoss brothers sue Zuckerberg. Not long after that, Eduardo sues him too.

“The Social Network” makes a point that has been made many times before in history: Nothing motivates a man like sex. Or, rather, a bruised ego about sex. When Mark's girlfriend dumps him, because he was treating her like a robot, it wounds him. Facebook, essentially, is born from his masculine ego getting stabbed by her sharp, and honest, words. Mark feels entitled to a hot girlfriend. He feels entitled to entry into the exclusive clubs and frats he sees around him. He never suspects that his asshole demeanor is the reason he doesn't have these things already. When the success of Facebook gives him access to all the girls and money he could ever want, he's only convinced to double-down more on his bullish tactics. “The Social Network” is all about decidedly toxic, and distinctly masculine, nerd entitlement transforming a jerk into a monster.

“The Social Network” is also a story about an even older idea: Two close friends having a falling out. Eduardo and Mark are both nerdy Jewish kids. Saverin even writes out the coding formula that made that first website possible. They reap the initial success of Facebook together. Yet they are soon forced apart. Mark admires Sean Parker's rock star life style. Eduardo resents it, seeing Parker as an intrusion into the dynamic he has with Mark. As Mark pursues power over anything else, he betrays maybe the only real friend he's ever had. Watching the slow desolation of Mark and Eduardo's friendship feels tragic, men nearly as close as brothers forced apart by greed. Especially once you see Eduardo's growing cluelessness about how hard Mark is about to screw him. 

A number of factors distinguishes “The Social Network” as a David Fincher movie. However, one can make the argument that the movie really belongs to its screenwriter. Aaron Sorkin never lets you forget that he wrote the film. Every line of dialogue is super sharp and pointed. The characters speak in incredibly fast and frequently wordy burst. The scene where Mark describes, in voice-over, how he created FaceMash is a long stream of technobabble and witticisms. While Sorkin's work can be utterly smug and insufferable at times, it's kept in balance here. You can believe people would talk this way in the world of nerdy and rich college students and rising tech moguls. Fincher's instinct also sharpens Sorkin's dialogue, keeping the memorable sarcasm and ditching the self-righteousness.

In fact, “The Social Network” sometimes plays like a fantastically funny comedy about two dorks in way over their heads. Zuckerberg and his team of code monkeys are woefully unprepared for the fame and fortune that comes with Facebook's success. Mark tries to adopt to the wild frat boy lifestyle and ends up shattering a chimney and tossing a beer into the wall. The funniest scene in the film occurs when Mark is having a mini-breakdown on the phone while Eduardo's new girlfriend – a former groupie – sets his bed on fire. No wonder this story ends in betrayal. These two guys really stumbled into this, a point the movie makes repeatedly.

“The Social Network” would be a star-making turn for Jesse Eisenberg, who at the time was regarded as the poor man's Michael Cera but would quickly eclipse him. Eisenberg adapts an extremely precise and frequently curt way of speaking as Mark. He doesn't have much time for social niceties. Zuckerberg comes very close to being portrayed as a totally cold and calculating psychopath, especially as he focuses more on seizing power and control. Yet the humor Eisenberg – a perfect manifestation of Mark's ego – brings to the role makes him oddly charming. He also reveals enough of Zuckerberg's vulnerabilities to humanize him, even if he still comes off as a chilling villain protagonist.

If Zuckerberg is the cold center of “The Social Network,” the actors around him represent other extreme feelings. Andrew Garfield, as Eduardo, is almost playing a wide-eyed innocent. He is quickly overwhelmed by the pressure of Facebook's success and puts too much trust in his “friend.” It helps that Garfield is so boyish, like a puppy or something, that you really understand the guy when he eventually snaps at Zuckerberg. Justin Timberlake, as Sean Parker, functions as the devil on Mark's shoulder. He uses Mark to get revenge against old enemies, while tempting him with stories of more money and wild parties. The pop star is surprisingly good at making Parker seem somewhat unhinged and irresponsible but completely seductive at other times. 

Fincher, of course, directs the hell out of the movie. The dorms and meeting halls of Harvard are often overcast with a sickly green light and washed out visuals. This certainly makes the school seem a lot less hospitable than it could be, suggesting the sinister unease underneath. This also stands in contrast to the framing device, of Mark's various lawsuits, which are shot under almost sterile lighting. The movie is also incredibly tightly edited. The sequence where the Winklevoss twins row to a near-victory, set to “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” is thrillingly assembled. Fincher still knows how to put-together an action sequence like few other big Hollywood directors.

“The Social Network” would begin another important collaboration for Fincher. It's the first film of his to be scored by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor. Considering Fincher's entire career sometimes feels like an audition to direct Nine Inch Nails music videos; he finally directed one in 2005; it's a fitting partnership. Reznor and Ross' score is surprisingly low-key. It's largely composed of quivering static, an unnerving layer of distortion floating under most of the movie's scenes. This adds an ominous quality to what is largely a drama composed of people talking, establishing the mood of betrayal and distrust that will soon follow. A immediately recognizable series of notes frequently rises above, which suggests the humble roots of the protagonist and how far they'll soon travel from them.

Watching “The Social Network” in 2021 is definitely a somewhat surreal experience. Kevin Spacey and Scott Rubin were both producers, their names in the credit leading to some “oofs” in a modern context. Of course, Arnie Hammer plays the Winklevoss twins, a rich sicko playing two rich conceited assholes. Moreover, the film was made before Mark Zuckerbery tried to make himself a presidential candidate. Before Facebook helped facilitate the undermining of the free press. Before it was used as a tool to distribute misinformation and discredit democracy. Before Zuckerberg had to stand before congress and admit all of this. Aaron Sorkin has expressed some interesting in writing a sequel, should David Fincher be interested in directing. Honestly, it's a pretty good idea. 

The real life people who inspired “The Social Network” insist it doesn't have much to do with reality. The sweaty, doe-eyed, milquetoast humanoid that testified in Washington certainly doesn't resemble the stone-cold master planner Jesse Eisenberg plays here. We can assume Zuck's real life media empire was less inspired by sexual frustration. Certainly none of this makes “The Social Network” any less of a compelling film. The way the movie examines the crossover between toxic masculinity and digital supremacy has only made it more relevant. The acting is great, the script is sharp, and the movie is compelling in its construction from beginning to end. [Grade: A-]