Directed by David Fincher, and based on the book ‘The Accidental Billionaires’ by Ben Mezrich, the movie tells the story of the biggest fad on the internet – second only to the web mail, I guess – the Facebook and its creator or should I say creators? Mark Zuckerberg (the official creator of FB, played by Jesse Eisenberg) is a Harvard student (eventually a dropout) who creates a website of sorts after hacking the pictures of girls hailing from various halls and departments at Harvard. The website, though not entirely legal or unobjectionable in nature, is an instant rage on the campus. Impressed by the genius like stuff pulled off by him, three fellow students (the Winklevoss twins and their friend) approach him with the idea of setting up an exclusive networking site for the Harvard fraternity. Zuckerberg does go on to make a networking site - the facebook – initially exclusively for Harvard, but which later goes on to take the shape which it now has. But he does so, on by his own to the exclusion of the Winklevoss brothers who suggested him the initial idea, and involving his own friend Eduardo Saverin (as the CFO & cofounder of FB) instead. Later he also involves Sean Parker, the creator of Napster (the music sharing website) in the expansion of FB, while diluting the share holding of Eduardo in a rather underhanded fashion. And if you are in the US of A, can a law suit ever be far away? Zuckerberg gets sued both by the Winklevoss twins and Eduardo for his sneaky, if genius, ways.
The Social Network is the story of ‘genius meets ambition’. While genius in itself can be innocuous, it is the amalgamation with the ‘A’ word (ambition) that makes for combustible matter needed to blaze one’s trail. And in doing so, the genius often treads the fine line between right and the wrong. And almost every other genius who has made it big would every so often bend the right but only so much that it doesn’t entirely become wrong at the same time! It’s just a matter of how much can one bend (the right) before it gets labeled as outright deceit.
Hats off to the director for shaping a rather straight forward plot into such a compelling watch. The performance of the entire cast is impeccable. Jesse Eisenberg plays a genius nerd to the perfection. Andrew Garfield (as Eduardo Saverin) and Justin Timberlake (as Sean Parker) are outstanding. The screenplay (by Aaron Sorkin) is a class apart and takes the movie a couple of notches higher. The background score draws you into the plot and catches hold of you, leaving you only when the final credits roll.
One also gets to taste a little bit of the life and education at an Ivy League institute. The twenty-somethings and even the hardly twenties, go about with an air of sophistication that truly ‘rich’ education brings with it. The Winklevoss twins for example - having commendable grade point average, discussing companies and making real investments as a part of their project work - also by no mean coincidence happen to be on the Olympic Rowing team in Beijing representing USA! Ivy League education and ‘wholesome’ education did I say? Even a cinematic look at the standard of education at a place like Harvard and you know why a place like IIM doesn’t figure in the top 50 list of institutes worldwide.
Ultimately, it’s a Matt Damon (of the Bourne series) like take on the sheer genius of the founder of FB - makes for an absolutely riveting and refreshing viewing. Do not miss this one.
Rating: 4/5
