First-Class: The Social Network

I believe that Aaron Sorkin is a screenplay god. In case you don't know what he's done, let me refresh your memory: A Few Good Men, The American President, Sports Night, The West Wing, and Charlie Wilson's War.

And now, he's given us The Social Network, a fictionalized tale of the start of Facebook.

Or is it?

SPOILER ALERT!

It's not.

The Social Network is about popularity and belonging and attention and friendship. It's a subtle yet powerful look at how technology has made my generation, those of us that have come of age during the internet age, during the Facebook age, live our lives: through the internet. Through social networking websites. The Social Network is about Mark Zuckerberg, played brilliantly by Jesse Eisenberg, the "creator" of Facebook, and his quest to join the elite Harvard Final Clubs. He is obsessed with exclusivity. He wants to be popular.

But he's a geek, nerd, dweed, whatever you want to call him. He's also brilliant. His ability to write code is shown in the movie as pure mind-blowing power--he hacks into several websites and eventually crashes the Harvard servers by creating a website that compares Harvard girls, all while drunk after breaking up with his girlfriend. It is in these early scene that we learn who Zuckerberg is: lonely, outcast, misunderstood, and needy. In a hearing with the Harvard Advisory Board, Zuckerberg asks for "some recognition." That's all he really wants throughout the movie.

Sorkin's script is music to the ears. His quick banter between characters is mesmerizing. And while he sets aside his usual "walk-and-talk" dialogue that became famous in The West Wing and the short-lived Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Sorkin's script oozes something special.

The fictionalized tale of Facebook is also engrossing and at times painful to watch. The backstabbing and friendship and loss of friendship adds flaws to every character. Zuckerberg is made out to be a king, and all his men are only there to tell him what he wants to hear. At first, it's Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), Zuckerberg's best friend, who goes from the it man to the wrong man. The story of Facebook is as much the story of the end of the friendship of Zuckerberg and Saverin. And while part of this may be due to Sean Parker, the Napster founder played appropriately by Justin Timerblake, in the end its Zuckerberg and his quest to join an exclusive club, that tears apart his own world.

And the end of this amazing film, Zuckerberg comes across as an ass-hole, a nerd, a social dweeb, and a nice guy. It's up to the movie-goer to decide.

But really, this is an Aaron Sorkin tour-de-force. Or maybe I'm just in love with Aaron Sorkin.

FINAL GRADE: A