September 9, 2010

The Social Network (2010) ***


The epic tale of the founding of Facebook by Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg). Aaron Sorkin's incredibly witty screenplay drips with clever one-liners and killer repartees. Best lines: "Do you think I deserve your full attention? (...) You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing. Did I adequately answer your condescending question?", "Sorry, my Prada is at the cleaners, along with my hoodie and my 'fuck you' flip-flops, you pretentious douche bag!", "We lived in farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're gonna live on the internet!", "I think we should just be friends (...) I don't want friends (...) I was being polite, I had no intention of being friends with you" and "As for the charges, I believe I deserve some recognition from this board (...) I'm sorry? (...) Yes (...) I don't understand (...) Which part?". Director David Fincher ("Se7en", "Fight Club") has taken a potentially unfilmmable story and turned it into a fast-paced, exciting and instinctively perceptive film. Justin Timerlake is particularly impressive as Napster's co-founder Sean Parker.