The Social Network

Let's Face it... The Social Network is not only relevant to our current view of the world and our over-eager use of that precisely, social networking sites... It is also a movie well worth watching. Over half a billion of us can see the utility in a tool that lets us stay in touch with our friends and families and fuels our need to reconnect with people from our past like kindergarten sweethearts, high-school buddies and long lost bosses and aunts. I would guess this to be a movie that would interest a lot of people, but sadly it seems not to be the case. As I write this, many more people have chosen to watch things like Jackass 3 and just a slight fraction of us have enjoyed the real drama behind this Facebook phenomenon through David Fincher's excellent story telling.

On the one hand we have Mark Zuckerberg, subtletly played by Jesse Eisenberg. On the other, we have his antagonists: all the people who helped him build this great idea that has become a lifestyle for quite a few of us. Although, at times, Zuckerberg is portrayed as a jerk, we can still glimpse at his human side, a hard working entrepreneur looking for status and payback to become a player in the broader scheme of things. To me, his character seems just like an easily manipulated social misfit that doesn't quite know how to handle the ladies and has a big pressure of belonging to certain social clubs from which he'll always be looked down upon. This fine line between likable genius and arrogant jerk is crossed back and forth in such a way that although most of us will come out of the theater hating him a little, we'll all feel for him and root for him, not only because he's helped us strengthen our social lives at no apparent cost to us, but also, because we realize that it was his genius, and only his, that let a lot of people ride his coat-tails to become immensely rich.

In the end, no matter how much the ladies will root for the Severins and the Winklevosses of this earth, I think we all like it when a seemingly challenged underdog (socially challenged in this case), comes out ahead and sticks it to the man. Add to this the True Story Factor and voila, we have a winner.

Instead of my usual Steal it, Buy it, Rent it... etc. I'm rating this one with a... Like it!

(little blue thumb up). Starting off the race for next years Oscar, I am, for now, placing The Social Network as my front runner. Now turn off your Facebook for a couple of hours and go watch it!