In their new film “The Social Network”, Fincher and Sorkin have done a remarkable job bringing the Facebook story, perhaps the social phenomenon of the century, to the screen. “The Social Network” is a complicated story that could have been dull and predictable except that it isn’t. Jesse Eisenberg (Zuckerberg) is so completely convincing as the brainy, emotionally vulnerable young man in overdrive, we root for him as he goes about reordering the social universe as we knew it.  Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, (A Few Good Men, Malice) masterfully captures the essence of the Facebook’s creators (based on Ben Mezrich’s book ‘The Accidental Billionaires’) and lets their stories seamlessly unfold. We are immediately engaged in an emotional rollercoaster and at the end of the movie we want to know more. No matter what has already been publicized about the true story behind Facebook, this movie is riveting, entertaining and consequential.

Armie Hammer (both Winkelvosses) gives a remarkable dual performance as the handsome, privileged, ivy-league brothers accustomed to success and its benefits. Andrew Garfield (Saverin) the guy with a heart of gold and Zuckerberg’s only friend plays the sucker for the taking. Napster inventor Shaun Fanning (Justin Timberlake), another young, flawed anti-establishment genius brings youth, talent and ambition to another level as his ego collides with reality. This movie is definitely a candidate for “movie of the year” because it does “capture and define a generation” and much more in a witty, technically perfect but intensely personal way. First rate performances from all.

“The Social Network” is a brilliant reminder of the basic human need to be loved and to fit in, of the inevitable, destructive consequences when desperate choices lead to a sobering truth. The machinations of Facebook’s meteoric rise are deftly juxtaposed with Zuckerberg sitting alone with only his computer for solace, a character so in need of sympathy and finding little. Fincher gets his audience to relate to Zuckerberg as a 21^st century ‘Citizen Kane’, his “rosebud” not a nostalgic childhood memory, but pain and yearning for a full-blooded student colleague, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara).  We are resolutely stunned that this socially inept genius could alter the course of personal communication, his motivations not money or greed but rather a deeply personal need for acceptance, status and to get the girl, to be loved.

A must see. It will be the best few bucks you’ve spent at the movies in a while. It works at every level and deserves the Academy’s attention next March.

Moira Romano