The Social Network (2-Disc Collector's Edition) [DVD] [2011]

Like many people, I was actively resistant to the idea of watching a movie telling the story of Facebook. Smarmy frat-house brats high-fiving as they hunch around a computer screen with a few "brewskis" - becoming billionaires en route - sounded like a recipe for the most teeth-grindingly awful movie ever: Porky's for Dorks, if you will. I went reluctantly.

Thank God I did though. I should have had more faith in David Fincher - he's a smart enough film maker to realise that this movie would only ever work if it focused on the genuinely extraordinary, which in this case means the birth of a new way of interacting, and the personalities that brought it into existence. This would be more than enough material to make an interesting film, but Aaron (West Wing) Sorkin's script also brings in issues of class, the generational divide, intelligence, money and the new economy. What results is a riveting, fast-paced film about the excitement of new ideas, the intoxicating rush of the succesful dot com, and the almighty high of billions of dollars, all channelled through something which all of us are familiar with and can relate to. Nothing less, then, than that rarest of beasts, a film which successfully addresses The Times In Which We Live.

The film's (already famous) opening scene shows Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) being dumped by his girlfriend, and from this we immediately learn several key things - Zuckerberg is possessed of an unapologetic, almost Asperger's-level intelligence; and he is terrible at human interaction. Zuckerberg takes revenge on his ex online, by setting up a website enabling fellow Harvard students to rate female students by attractiveness, and while this stunt earns him an academic suspension, it also brings him to the attention of his peers, some of whom have ideas for websites of their own. And so begins the story of Facebook; Zuckerberg's vision, but possibly not his idea.

All the performances are remarkable, though the three main male leads - Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake - are nothing short of outstanding. Doubtless the real story was duller, more ragged and more painful, but in focusing on the emotional truth of the story Fincher and Sorkin have created a brilliant and entertaining fable for our times. Shame that women barely figure in it at all, apart from as heartless bitches or sex objects, but you can't have everything. Recommended.

Reading through some of the reviews that slate the film, I was left wondering whether people knew anything at all or read any review before writing their reviews. To me they seem to miss the point. This is not a guns and explosions thriller with CGI scenes all over it. It is actually an intelligent exploration of how someone who is highly intelligent and gifted in one sphere of life (programming), can be border line stupid in another (social skills and interacting with people). It is obvious at times that this is derived from a stage play and that some scenes are completely invented to link scenes or add what the director feels is necessary extra detail. Often they are not. To my mind the film is at its strongest when keeping the scale small and focusing on the interplay between the Zuckerberg "character" and others - which of course is what the play does. Criticisms about characters talking too quickly are again missing the point. Highly intelligent people will often seem to race ahead in their conversations, especially those who are gifted in computing and maths - as the two central players here are. They are also both young people, who again will often seem to gabble away when talking.

I was sceptical when I saw that a film was being made of the Facebook story, but given the rave reviews I sat down to watch this with high expectations. I'm now a bit mystified by those awards, it's an OK film but no more than that.

Basic problem is there isn't much of a story to tell, and we mostly know how it ends up. Creating a social networking site isn't exactly abolishing slavery, so it is hard to get too excited by Zukerbergs project.

Nearest we get to dramatic tension is his falling out with co-founder Eduardo Saverin but that's never fully played out, or adequately resolved, perhaps due to the non-discloure agreements in place. The other main theme is the dispute with the Winklevoss twins, but they are portrayed unsympathetically. Consequently much of the film is a bunch of well to do kids sitting round tables with lawyers, arguing about whoes idea facebook was, not really riveting watching.

To try and liven things up we get frequent doses of loud music, sex & drugs, with a rather unpleasant sexism running through much of it. While the loud music makes some of the dialogue difficult to follow.

The central performances are good though, so overall it is quite watch-able, if insubstantial.