Video:  Holley's a Fan!
By: Holley Sinn

Verdict: Approved!

It's a cinderella story of a twisted and technical sort. A gifted Harvard programmer with a penchant for making people angry, gets dumped, gets drunk and hacks the school internet system in order to create a one-night-only website for comparing his female co-eds. When the site gets 22,000 hits in the middle of the night, ultimately crashing the Harvard system, that programmer becomes notorious...both for his enviable computer skills and lack of social decorum. This student is the focus of David Fincher's fast-paced, cleverly cut epic about the origins of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg brought the world together online...and ultimatley divided his own social sphere.

"The Social Network" stars Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard student who built a social networking site we've all come to know as Facebook. Having proven his abilities as a programmer by hacking into the Harvard system and motivated by a desire to keep tabs on his ex-girlfriend, Mark jumps at a chance to expand on an idea proposed to him by a pair of crew rowers...twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, both played my Armie Hammer. A social loner, Mark turns to his one friend, Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield, for funding, and in a matter of weeks, the rudimentary early version of Facebook is up and running. Inspired by the college dating experience, Mark finds himself making updates based on the lives of his classmates...for instance...providing a social cyber-badge dubbed "relationship status".

Facebook's momentum picks up as the programmers expand it outside the Harvard campus. When Stanford acquires the site, a certain cyber-villain named Sean Parker perks up and wants a meeting with the Facebook founders. You may remember Parker as the creator of the music pirating site, Napster. He's played expertly by the multi-talented Justin Timberlake. However, expansion also draws legal action from the Winklevoss twins who claim Mark stole their idea. And, when Parker convinces Mark to move the Facebook headquarters to the west coast in order to obtain major investors, things get harry with Saverin as well. The once CFO retaliates for having his stock shares diluted by bringing his own suit.

What is fascinating about this film, aside from providing a history of the internet's biggest and fastest success, is the psychology behind each move the men involved make. The prevailing theme is retaliation. Every player has a bone to pick with someone, and Facebook is basically the result of a whole bunch of passive aggressive revenge games....the greatest of which provides the perfect bookend for the film. Helen of Troy is credited with bringing about the fall of the Spartan empire. It could easily be said that a woman was equally responsible for the inception of the Facebook empire.

"The Social Network" is marked by clever dialogue, fast but steady pacing, unbelievable acting and a rockstar soundtrack provided, in part, by Trent Reznor. It's a ballad to what is created and destroyed by ingenuity, injured pride and a little recklessness...and it opens today in theaters all over the bay area. "The Social Network" is rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and some language.