The Minority Report - "The Social Network" (2010)

“You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole.”
People are calling a staple of our time. That’s a reasonable statement, considering the movie is about Facebook. This film has been getting rave reviews all over the place and most of the only people complaining are the tech blogs (for legitimate reasons). The thing is, when a movie about Facebook comes out, what can you really expect? It’s interesting to note the developments from 2004 onwards as described by the movie, but it never ceases to amaze me how much people believe from movies these days. They are works of fiction for a reason. Even the most convincing ones are still fiction. Apart from that, though, let it be recognized that Jesse Eisenberg did an absolutely phenomenal job as the story’s lead role. The script is, for sure, one to be admired. Besides that, though, David Fincher let me down a bit.

The story centers around a young man by the name of Mark Zuckerberg, whom is currently attending Harvard University and dating a girl named Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). She, of course, dumps him because of his terrible personality traits, which sets him on his course to become one of the Internet’s greats. His roommate and best friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), a business guru, aides him on this journey after dear old Zuckerberg comes up with the idea for Facebook when he begins working with a pair of rich Olympians known as the Winkelvoss’s (Armie Hammer). Doing everything but stealing the idea, he goes on the high road to create what is the most successful social networking site of the present day. Along the way, he meets people that test his friendship, commitment to Facebook, and his beliefs and values. Tearing it apart is the name of the game in Zuckerberg’s life from this point on. The rest is just history.

The first scene really set the mood of the whole movie: witty and intelligent comments followed by lazy scene transitions. For me, most of the acting consisted of merely stating the lines and getting it over with. There was emotion behind it, but it just felt forced and fake. The scenery and colors didn’t help much either. Drab and dark blues and greens don’t make for a movie that will effectively transmit the intricacy of not just the situations it was trying to portray, but also the emotions involved. The soft camera pans and the smooth, linear transitions didn’t allow the true emotions being portrayed to be felt. It was almost as if the movie was muting itself. All in all, it is a fine movie to watch if you have time, but nothing really memorable. Saddening, really, considering that it is based off something that is quite memorable, indeed. This movie is like watching paint dry on the Facebook home screen as it refuses to load the next page.

By Kulguy