The Social Network is a 2010 American drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. Adapted from Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires, the film portrays¹ the founding of social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits². It stars Jesse Eisenberg as founder³ Mark Zuckerberg, along with Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker.

 

Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven) teams with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) to explore the meaning of success in the early 21st century from the perspectives of the technological⁴ innovators who revolutionized the way we all communicate. The year was 2003. As prohibitively expensive technology became affordable⁵ to the masses and the Internet made it easy to stay in touch with people who were halfway⁶ across the world, Harvard undergrad and computer programming wizard Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) launched a website with the potential to alter the very fabric⁷ of our society. At the time, Zuckerberg was just six years away from making his first million. But his hearty⁸ payday would come at a high price, because despite all of Zuckerberg's wealth and success, his personal life began to suffer as he became mired⁹ in legal disputes, and discovered that many of the 500 million people he had friended during his rise to the top were eager to see him fall. Chief among that growing list of detractors was Zuckerberg's former college friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), whose generous financial contributions to Facebook served as the seed that helped the company to sprout¹⁰. And some might argue that Zuckerberg's bold venture wouldn't have evolved into the cultural juggernaut that it ultimately became had Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) not spread the word about Facebook to the venture capitalists from Silicon¹¹ Valley. Meanwhile, the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) engage Zuckerberg in a fierce courtroom battle for ownership of Facebook that left many suspecting the young entrepreneur might have let his greed eclipse his better judgment¹². The Social Network was based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich.

 

The film received widespread acclaim¹³, with critics praising it for its editing, acting¹⁴, score, direction and screenplay. However, some people, including Zuckerberg himself, criticized the film for its many inaccuracies. The Social Network appeared on 78 critics' Top 10 list for 2010; of those critics, 22 had the film in their numberone spot. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said "The Social Network is the movie of the year. But Fincher and Sorkin triumph by taking it further. Lacing their scathing¹⁵ wit with an aching sadness, they define the dark irony¹⁶ of the past decade."

 

It received eight Academy Award nominations¹⁷, including Best Picture, Best Director (Fincher), and Best Actor (Eisenberg), and won three for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing. At the 68th Golden Globe Awards, the film won Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

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