Spoilers will unfriend you so fast.

We’re back on the David Fincher anthology and this one I didn’t look forward to revisiting. I believe that writers should include any bias in their craft. Opinion should not be restrained. Even when writing fiction, my writing is biased upon the point of view of a flawed narrator. Being completely unbiased might be possible, but if you have a strong bias for the subject it’s a lost opportunity not to use it. All that to say, I don’t like the characters in this film, and with that my opinion will be tainted. That doesn’t make it a bad film, though.

(Credit: Columbia Pictures)

The Social Network (2010) is directed by David Fincher. It is based on the screenplay by Aaron Sorkin which is based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich. The film chronicles the story of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and the creation of Facebook, starting from the beginning while Zuckerberg is still a student in Harvard. Along for the ride is fellow student Eduardo Severin (Andrew Garfield). They will be joined later along the way by Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake).

Now to be clear, I am not judging this film based on its accuracy. Biopics have been known to take some liberties for dramatic license and increase their capacity to entertain. As I have stated, I don’t particularly like these characters. Mark, Eduardo and Sean are shown as they go for a thrill ride of highs and lows. They’re not relatable characters personally, but they’re still interestingly flawed.

Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg is particularly detestable and, dare I say, toxic personality. He’s painted as incredibly smart but petulant and a sociopath. Garfield’s Severin acts as the voice of reason but he is also portrayed as naive and ultimately too trusting of his friend. Their bromance is broken the moment that Timberlake’s Parker comes into view, oozing charm and showmanship but ultimately breaking their friendship. These are just my takes on the characters in the film, not the real people of course.

It works. It’s a great movie about some very entitled people that became extremely wealthy. I treat it for what it is, a movie and not necessarily an account of the real events. I have to say that for the filmmakers to create a feature where I don’t like the characters but I still want to see what happens to them, the storytelling is rather well done. This might be Eisenberg’s best performance to the point that it’s really hard to separate him from his character. The writing is really good.

There’s only a few elements that seem superfluous such as the party scenes or the whole sub-plot with the Winklevoss twins, played by Armie Hammer and Josh Pence (with Armie Hammer’s head CGI-ed in) which is almost added as comedic relief. There’s one line from Rashida Jones’ character Marylin Delpi that tries to almost forgive this film’s main character telling him that he’s not an asshole: “you’re just trying so hard to be one.” I don’t want to take anything away from Aaron Sorkin’s script but I disagree. You become an asshole when you’re too lazy to put in the daily effort a better person.

Highly recommended with reservations. The directing, the storytelling and the writing is superb. The performances of the main cast are more than adequate. I’m biased because I don’t like the characters, although I do admire the performances. That being said, there’s a lot of toxic personality on display that seems to be waved aside. Worth a watch.

That will do for now.