THE SOCIAL NETWORK - MY REVIEW

Hi Guyzzz I watched the movie THE SOCIAL NETWORK couple of days back and I was impressed by the movie. I think the Director has managed to stick to the true story most of the part and he also managed to make it like a movie(as it was meant to be) rather than a documentary (that’s how most of the tym such movies end up).This is one of the rare movies that can entertain you without big names or bigger action. I must say that the only face in the movie familiar to me was that of Justin Timberlake (who played the role of Sean Parker, the man behind NAPSTER) and all others were totally unknown to me but that didn’t in anyway come in between me and the movie.

Many of you will be already knowing the premises of the movie and for those who don’t it’s about the founding of FACEBOOK one of the largest (if not THE largest) social networking site in the world (and its becoming popular day by day) which boasts a user base of 500 million (that’s why the tag line “You can't make 500 million friends without making a few enemies”) members. It was started 6 years ago in the dorm rooms of Harward University by a nerdy 20 year old and couple of his college friends with an initial investment of 1000 USD. It was actually a small step for Mark Zuckerberg but a giant leap for SOCIAL NETWORKING.

Now the movie talks about the earlier days of FACEBOOK (From the INCEPTION) and the controversies around the founding of FACEBOOK.According to the movie a young and nerdy Mark Zuckerberg (they didn’t even worry about changing the name) copied the idea from Divya Narendra (a fellow Harwardian and tech whiz) and the Vinklewoss brothers (Young VCs also from Harward).The story is that Mark wrote a programme (to vent his frustration after breaking up with his girlfriend) to rank/match the female students from Harward (for this he hacked in to the database of many affiliate colleges)and published it in the net and the whole Harward Network went down within hours due to the heavy traffic created by the page. This incident caught the attention of Divya and his friends who were in search of a techwhiz who could write some programmes that were beyond their expertise and to publish a social networking website called Harwardconnect (not sure of the name..late it was renamed as connectU) for the sole use of Harward students and memberships will be limited to those who have a HARDWAR.EDU mail id.They approached Mark and explained the stuff and Mark agreed to be a part of the project. But then behind their backs Mark starts to work on his own site using Divya’s concept with the help of funding from his friend Eduardo Saverin (he is credited as the co-founder of FACEBOOK) and he published the site soon after and it became an instant hit and grew minute by minute (and now they have a 500 Mil + users).This betrayal enraged Divya and his pals and they filed a suit against Mark Zuckerberg and while that litigation was going on even Eduardo was infuriated by the reckless acts by Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) and his growing influence on Mark. Eduardo was the CFO (In paper) of FACEBOOK but Mark and Sean signed deals without informing Eduardo and this hurt him badly and later without even consulting Eduardo they changed the share structure and Eduardo now had just .3% of shares while everybody else’s share percentage remained same. This ended Eduardo’s friendship with Mark and he also sued Mark for damages..by this time FACEBOOK has grown to a behemoth with members in 3-4 continents and at last all the parties agreed on a settlement and were paid millions of dollars as settlement and Eduardo’s name was reinstated as the Co-Founder of FACEBOOK.

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The best scene was the below…(Courtesy IMDB)..this happens once during the litigation discussions..The lawyer will be explaining something and Mark will be looking somewhere else…


Gage: Mr. Zuckerberg, do I have your full attention?

Mark Zuckerberg: [stares out the window] No.

Gage: Do you think I deserve it?

Mark Zuckerberg: [looks at the lawyer] What?


Gage: Do you think I deserve your full attention?


Mark Zuckerberg: I had to swear an oath before we began this deposition, and I don't want to perjure myself, so I have a legal obligation to say no.


Gage: Okay - no. You don't think I deserve your attention.


Mark Zuckerberg: I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try - but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing.
[pauses]


Mark Zuckerberg: Did I adequately answer your condescending question?

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After watching the movie I am not sure if he is Mark SUCKERberg or Mark SUPERberg….

Whatever be the case he has just been named as PERSON OF THE YEAR by TIME and he is just 26..that speak volumes..


Plus Points

1 ) A nice story line that did justice to the true story (at least what is supposed to be the true story)

2) A nice bunch of actors who did their part extremely well. The guy who played Mark did a good job in portraying Angry Mark, Nerdy Mark, Arrogant Mark , absentminded Mark etc and all others supported him well.

3) It gives us an IDEA about how a simple IDEA change lives (in this case lives of Generations).

4) No Bloodshed, No over exposure of flesh etc makes this a nice family entertainer.



Minus point

1 ) Lack of familiar names may keep many away from the movie.