The Social Network: Film Review

The Social Network is a film about the founding of Facebook based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. The film is accurate in comparison to the book and follows it spot on from Mark Zuckerberg's "over sized hoodie and flipflops" to tearing down the chimney they glided down from. The difference is that the film is told through flashbacks during various lawsuits. It depicts Mark Zuckerberg as a smart, witty, "nerd" who's a bit of a jerk.  He creates facebook, face lawsuits for doing so, and loses the only friend he had along the way as a sacrifice for the success of his company.  That's essentially the plot of the story but everything is pretty much shot using medium shots, closeups, and reaction shots. By using closeups and medium shots, the actor's emotions are clear, making for strong character development.  I thought strong character development was necessary for the drama for a film like this because it is mostly dialogue.  The dialogue is very quick and the director uses the reaction shot often to keep the attention of the viewer.  Overall, The Social Network is a fun movie with clever dialogue that was well executed.