Reviews

So the film comes down to a mesmerizing portrait of a man who in any other age would perhaps be deemed nuts or useless, but in the Internet age has this mental agility to transform an idea into an empire. Yet he still cannot rule his own life to the point he doesn't lose what's important to him.

By Kirk Honeycutt, from The Hollywood Reporter

Is The Social Network the 100% true story of the creation of Facebook? Not likely, as none of the principal players agree on what exactly is the truth. What The Social Network does is to lay out one interpretation of the events as they went down, without actually coming right out and saying who did what to whom. And what Sorkin and Fincher do with this tale told Rashomon style is to make the audience alternate between feeling sympathy for and contempt toward the film's version of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg as well as toward his ex-best friend and the first CFO of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin, and the Winklevoss twins who claimed Zuckerberg stole their idea and ran with it. By the end of the film, each player has had a chance to explain their side of the story and it's left up to the audience as to who is telling the version of the story closest to the truth.

The Social Network doesn't pussyfoot around. Sorkin and Fincher are fearless in showing the good, the bad, and the ugly of each of the film's -- and Facebook's - central players while never coming right out and saying, 'Here's your bad guy. It's okay to hate him because that's what he deserves.' They approach that line with Zuckerberg, who's obviously missing the gene that allows him to interact with people in a normal manner, but then edge away.

By Rebecca Murray, from About.com