The Social Network
Overview
The Social Network is a 2010 biographical drama film directed by David Fincher, based on the 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. The film tells the story of the founding of Facebook, the social networking website, and the lawsuits that followed. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, a brilliant, socially awkward Harvard student who creates Facebook in his dorm room. The film is structured as a series of flashbacks during two lawsuits. The first lawsuit is filed by the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler (Armie Hammer, with Josh Pence as body double), who claim that Zuckerberg stole their idea for a social network. The second lawsuit is filed by Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), Zuckerberg's best friend and the co-founder of Facebook, who claims that Zuckerberg deliberately diluted his shares and pushed him out of the company. The film opens with a famous scene of Zuckerberg breaking up with his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). He is angry and drunk, and he goes back to his dorm room and creates a website called "Facemash," which compares the attractiveness of female students. The site crashes Harvard's servers and gets Zuckerberg in trouble, but it also attracts the attention of the Winklevoss twins, who hire him to help them build their social network, Harvard Connection. Zuckerberg agrees, but then he and Eduardo create their own site, The Facebook. The film follows the rapid growth of Facebook, from Harvard to other colleges to the world. Zuckerberg moves to California, meets Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who becomes his mentor and who convinces him to dilute Eduardo's shares. The film is a brilliant exploration of ambition, betrayal, and the cost of success. The dialogue, written by Aaron Sorkin, is fast, witty, and memorable. The score, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, is haunting and electronic. The Social Network was a critical and commercial success, earning over $224 million worldwide. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing. It is widely considered one of the best films of the 21st century.
