The Social Network

Having a soon-to-expire discount card for the Balboa Theater, I ventured there to see The Social Network.

The Social Network starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake; (2010) - Official Website

I don't have a Facebook account and The Social Network is not a film that interested me. Seeing the film was serendipitous because I enjoyed it quite a bit. In particular, I thought Justin Timberlake's performance as Napster founder Sean Parker was inspired. I've long appreciated Timberlake's appearances on Saturday Night Live so I had an inkling of what he could do on screen but his portrayal of Parker raised the bar to a new level.

More difficult was Jesse Eisenberg's turn as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg whom he portrays as perpetually trying to be an asshole. I don't know anything about Zuckerberg or the factual events regarding the founding of Facebook but the screen version of Zuckerberg is hard to like or draw sympathy or empathy. I'm sure that's the way the character was written but it would have been nice to give Eisenberg some range in his role of Zuckerberg. I was left wondering how he got a girlfriend in the first place (his break up from her serves one of the key as the motivating factor in starting Facebook) or why anyone was friends with him.

The film was number one at the box office for a week or two and hundreds of reviews have been written about it. I don't need to recount the plot or give a critique. I enjoyed the film and will leave it at that.