‘Social Network’ a timely yet timeless masterpiece

“The Social Network” is both a vivid, inventive fantasy and a dramatically realistic portrait of the 21st century. 

It has touched on a subject that has become so ingrained in the subconscious of everyone who’s ever heard of the Internet while expanding on the biopic sub-genre in a way as revolutionary as the idea of Facebook itself.

The film is not about Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), the founder of Facebook, or Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), Mark’s one-time best friend or even about the Winklevoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer), who claim Mark stole the idea of Facebook from them. 

Aaron Sorkin’s inspired screenplay weaves through time and different perspectives to create a powerful story about no victim or winner. 

“The Social Network,” with its rapid-fire, whip-smart dialogue, is a stirring metaphor for the complexities and tragedies of life on a website where everyone is connected. And yet it is neither pro- nor anti-Facebook. 

It is a character sketch for what happened to these people in this screenplay in a time where the only friends Zuckerberg has are the ones we see, and not the 500 million users around the globe.

To those who say the film is unfair to Zuckerberg, the film is not a true account of real events, but the ideas that are constructed from the collective perspectives of all those with a claim to Facebook.

And yes, Zuckerberg does come across as an asshole. Eisenberg’s performance is cold, wired and immersed. As he recites scathing blog posts about his ex-girlfriend or explains his ideas to Saverin, he always comes across as a man with his mind elsewhere. It’s a wonderfully chilling performance. 

Sorkin’s screenplay is the smartest and wittiest of the year, spontaneous and insightful at the same time. And David Fincher has his work cut out for him making it come to life. The words move along with such swift clarity, and the editing seems to do the same, but Fincher sets an ideal pace for a film that never seems like a barrage of overly intelligent people parroting technical jargon.

“The Social Network” is not a history lesson. It explains how Zuckerberg reached out to the world who wanted to stalk, chat and see everyone they knew.

It also leads us to the point where both Saverin and the Winklevoss twins simultaneously sue Zuckerberg for rights and ownership to Facebook. But it comes to no clean conclusion, never claims complete facticity and takes no sides. It merely enchants.