Cinekist #2 – The Social Network (Facebook Movie)

I found this movie to be very entertaining.  Its hard to judge a movie on its own merits when you have previously read the book (which I didn’t in this case but, as an example, you are apt to compare the quality of the movie to the book which often adversely affects your opinion of the movie because of the limitations of the medium) or when you remember living through an event (as you also compare the movie to your sense of recollection and admiration or disgust you have for the real life characters).  I didn’t necessarily remember the events as they transpired as a member of Facebook or even aware of its existence at the time (unless you were in an ivy league school in 2003/2004 you likely wouldn’t have either) and in fact I wasn’t a member until after the lawsuits had then recently been settled.  But using the service for years you learn about the history as your involvement increases.  And being directly involved in web companies since 1999, I was aware of these types of developments with other similar companies.  So with my at least passing familiarity of the events, it makes it more difficult to judge the complete quality of the movie except all I can recognize is “Was I immensely entertained?” and “Did I learn something?” and the answer is a very strong yes to both.  I was unaware to the extent Sean Parker was involved and am shocked at the ultimate outcome of his involvement (as revealed in one of the very last scenes).

Fun product placement note: In the opening credits I noticed an actor named “Armie Hammer” (who played a significant role).  Not knowing anything about this actor I assumed it had to be a descendant of the Arm & Hammer company founder (real name Armand Hammer).  I looked it up after the movie and my assumption was confirmed but it had been proven in the movie as toward the end, the Mark Zuckerberg character was wearing a partially concealed Arm & Hammer t-shirt.  Nice touch.

I thought Jesse Eisenberg did a fantastic job portraying Mark Zuckerberg.  I enjoyed him in a little known independent film “The Education of Charlie Banks”.  As in this movie, he played a smart college kid.  His portrayal made Zuckerberg at times look like a jerk as all the pre-release reviews suggested, but also with a touch of humanity not expected.  There were times when he felt bad about the people he betrayed and perhaps wistfully wished things had gone differently.

Kate James in her article on www.gather.com suggests about the lead character, “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg came out of “The Social Network” at best as looking like a nerdy jerk. He was certainly portrayed as unflattering. There are many who know Zuckerberg personally who think that the movie went too far in the nerdiness aspect. The movie actually will end up being good for Zuckerberg’s image because he wasn’t horrible, conniving businessman. He was simply a kid who had an idea and worked toward it.”

I strongly agree with that last sentiment.  While he did come across as a jerk (was that the influence of the book it was based on “The Accidental Billionaire” by Ben Mezrich or was that real), he didn’t come across as completely heartless.  He looked like a kid who stumbled upon a brilliant idea, ran with it, and like most Internet entrepreneurs and founders of web companies I’ve met over the past 12 years, didn’t have the maturity to manage it properly at all times.  Basically, his big crime was being 20.  I think people that don’t like this movie may not like it potentially because they feel they could’ve done a better job running the company or envious that his/her life didn’t turn out the way they had hoped, instead of judging the movie on its own merits, ultimately on its entertainment value, which I feel is significant in this case.

Justin Timberlake did a wonderful job in his role as Sean Parker, co-Founder of Napster who weaseled his way into a prominent position at Facebook.  Timberlake is really beginning to mature into a complete artist.