By: Mila Pantovich

Images courtesy of cbsnews.com

Based on the true story of how the social networking site Facebook was created, “The Social Network” is the most culturally relevant film of the year, managing to reflect and define a generation. If you think for one second that a film about Facebook will be a pitiful way of capitalizing on the popularity of the site, you couldn’t be more wrong. David Fincher (“Fight Club” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) takes a story of what easily could have been a simple handful of pretentious characters with the inability to socially connect, and created an exciting and fascinating story about the cracks within human nature.

The film begins at Harvard with Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) using his internet blog to lash out at the girl who dumped him. His drunken anger leads him to create a site that rates his female peers according to their hotness, crashing Harvard’s system and bringing him to the attention of the Winklevoss rowing twins (both played by Armie Hammer). Mark is hired by the twins to create an elite dating site that only Harvard students can sign up for. With the help of his only friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), Mark dodges emails from the twins, and instead creates what will become Facebook. Mark, desperate to be popular, finds himself glamoured by the notoriety that such a site brings him. His obsession with being cool to protect his deep-seated insecurities ends up destroying his only friendship, resulting in simultaneous lawsuits by not only Mark’s best friend, but the Winklevoss twins as well.

With an incredibly young cast, “The Social Network” fills the screen with notable performances that almost guarantee the beginnings of prominent careers. As Mark Zuckerberg, Jesse Eisenberg handles the fast-paced dialogue with a fervor that is fascinating to witness. He lays his character bare, allowing all of Mark’s neurosis and insecurities to come forth in every single scene while giving his brash and condescending nature a striking vulnerability. Justin Timberlake gives a landmark performance as Sean Parker, the co-creator of Napster. Timberlake infuses every scene he appears in with a vibrant energy that fills you with a bubbling anticipation for his next move onscreen. The kinetic screenplay by Aaron Sorkin allows each character to develop with such subtle effortlessness that, as an audience, you fail to pinpoint the exact moment you grew to know each one. Amidst characters that live their life according to the cold world of technology, Andrew Garfield’s performance as Eduardo Saverin gives the film a much-needed soul that is far too genuine to survive. Garfield (recently cast as the new Spider Man) is all too real and nearly painful to watch as he shows Eduardo’s slow and inevitable heartbreak over being pushed aside and betrayed by his best friend.

With the help of the buoyant soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, David Fincher gives “The Social Network” a constant tension, carefully constructing each second of film. Every bit of dialogue and every scene is deliberately cut and executed with perfect timing, not allowing even one second to go to waste. He keeps the pace sharp and quick, switching seamlessly between the law suits of the present day while allowing the past scenes to slowly unfold, revealing each determined step that Mark takes while on his way to becoming the youngest billionaire in the world. While the creation of Facebook is certainly interesting to see unfold, Fincher reveals the deep-rooted cracks inherent within human behavior. With a constant need for instant gratification, “The Social Network” reflects a generation that no longer has the patience or developed means to establish relationships. With an overwhelming fear of isolation, Fincher uses Mark as a reflection of a generation that longs for a lasting connection while lacking the courage to physically act. Fincher brilliantly and painfully shows how socially inept our culture has rapidly become and just how complacent we are to our fates as we, while warmed by the artificial glow of the computer screen, update our Facebook status one more time.