I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can return some link love for all those critics/blogs that I love to read. Since I love reading reviews of films that I’ve seen what I’ll do is each week whatever new release that I review here I will post what I think the General Consensus of the movie is by posting short snippets of many reviews here. Check it out below:
So here’s how this is going to work. Since I want to create an average score for the film (like my own blogosphere only version of RT or IMDB) I will only count reviews that have a rating. If your rating is letter graded then I will convert it using High School style grades (i.e. A = 9/10, B = 8/10, C = 7/10, D = 5/10, F = 3/10). I’ll definitely mention other, non-scaled reviews, but they won’t be calculated into the overall General Consensus.
Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: Aaron Sorkin & Ben Mezrich
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer & Roonie Mara
Reviews
Fincher makes up for the lack of character development by getting creative with the way he unravels the story, bouncing back and forth through time — from court proceedings to clubs to college dorm rooms, beginning one line of dialogue in the past and then continuing it in the present — slicing his way through scenes with speed and precision like a master chef. – Erik Davis from Cinematical. Grade: N/A
I will admit that the film was way more intellectually stimulating than I expected, and it’s fascinating from an entrepreneurial perspective in terms of business, intellectual property and the world of ideas. But I was rarely emotionally affected or invested in anyone or anything that happened, which is perhaps the saddest thing. – Shannon the Movie Moxie. Grade: N/A
Fincher keeps nearly the same furious pace as we flawlessly weave in and out of multiple lawsuit depositions telling the back story. One is between Zuckerberg and his once-best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), who is pushed out of what he believes is his rightful Facebook ownership. The other is between Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) and the Winklevoss twins over stealing the initial idea. Fincher used face-mapping technology to project Armie Hammer‘s face on Joshua Pence, in effect creating identical twins. – Jordan Raup from The Film Stage. Grade: N/A
Unlike most Sorkin screenplays that play off too much like melodramatic TV and filled with cheesy lines, this script flows much more naturally. The back-and-forth of both stories keeps the pace moving and it never lulls off. – Peter Eramo Jr. from Magic Lantern Film Blog. Grade: 7.5/10
Eisenberg is an absolute delight as the emotionally calm, intellectually elitist, Zuckerberg. Arnie Hammer lights up as the competitive Winklevoss twins. Even Justin Timberlake manages to make the most of his appearance. Though for me the real shining star was Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin. – Univarn from A Life in Equinox. Grade: 8.5/10
Some friends of mine even confused him with Michael Cera. Eisenberg breaks free of that teen geek mold with this work. It helps that he’s been given the fantastic dialogue of Aaron Sorkin adapting Ben Mezrich’s book THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES. The lines between Mark and Erica in the opening sequence crackle and make it the best “worst” date scene ever. – Jim Batts from We Are Movie Geeks. Grade: 10/10
That credit sequence taking place across the beautiful Harvard campus is not only important for its character setup but also for the opening strains of the score by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Ross and Reznor’s music is quite simply pitch perfect, giving Mark a rock star quality with 80s style synth sounds, some with pumping bass and some with softer synth piano notes that evoke feelings of loneliness and isolation. – Luke Mullen from Film School Rejects. Grade: A- (8.5/10)
The only other issue I had with the film was the lack of overall commentary on the social impact that Facebook has had on the world. The film hints at it at times, especially the closing scene, but I find it odd that a major motion picture is made about one of the most influential companies of our time, and what it has done to our everyday life isn’t really established. But those are just a couple flaws that I found in an overall great film. – Red from Anomalous Material. Grade: A- (8.5/10)
Jesse Eisenberg steps out of his quietly geeky and likeable roles to take on Zuckerberg and he plays the genius social outcast brilliantly. He opens the film with a tirade that is both sad and hilarious and carries the same energy and attitude through the entire film, cultivating an air of arrogance and self importance as the story develops – Marina Antunes from Row Three. Grade: 8.0/10
The film serves as a Wall Street-esque exploration of the entrepreneurial spirit with a modern age Charles Foster Kane as its lead. Added to this is the idea of friendship and the competitor in us all and it just so happens to involve one of the major corporations of the last decade. – Brad Brevet from Rope of Silicon. Grade: B+ (8.5/10)
Moving at a breakneck pace and always emotionally involving, The Social Network is exceptional filmmaking. The fact that it’s an amazing story helps, but director David Fincher and writer Sorkin give the film a tenuous and sinister vibe as the site becomes bigger and more and more people want a piece. – Bill Clark from From The Balcony. Grade: A (9.0/10)
There’s a hopeful, almost celebratory moment in The Social Network when Napster-creator Sean Parker declares to Facebook-creator Mark Zuckerberg, “This is our time!” And that, at its core, is what the film is about: the era of the geek; the triumph of the reject; the rebellion of the social outcast. Where once business relied heavily on having a wealthy, privileged, image-centric mediator to buy and sell smarter people’s work, the Internet has made way for a generation of 20-somethings that no longer need to rely on the societal rules of generations past to secure a billion dollar enterprise. – Adam Quigley from /Film. Grade: 10/10
The best script and the best direction can’t save a film that relies so heavily on character work if the cast isn’t up to the task. Fortunately, everyone here works well with the material. Eisenberg comes into his own with this performance, one that is Oscar caliber. Armie Hammer astounds with his two roles playing identical twins each with their own nuances; he’s a bit of a revelation here. – Brian Kelley from Gordon and the Whale. Grade: 10/10
It is said to be impossible to make a movie about a writer, because how can you show him only writing? It must also be impossible to make a movie about a computer programmer, because what is programming but writing in a language few people in the audience know? Yet Fincher and his writer, Aaron Sorkin, are able to explain the Facebook phenomenon in terms we can immediately understand, which is the reason 500 million of us have signed up. – Roger Ebert. Grade: 10/10
There’s a great line in the film stated by the president of Harvard about the school’s students “they don’t want to find jobs anymore, they want to create them.” That philosophy can be extended to any film blogger, any online sales rep, any online market place, frankly anyone with the cash and idea can create their own opportunity. It’s no longer about setting your mind to the idea, it’s about how long you can make the idea last. – Merrill Barr. Grade: 9.5/10
The score by Trent Reznor is one of the pictures’ strongest features and it’s both symphonic, strange and awkwardly appropriate. The buzz and hum that surrounds and accents scenes of people typing and clicking furiously on computers does a better job at suggesting the invisible connections of an integrated network than the script itself does. Underneath everything, Reznor’s haunting soundscape lurks. – Bartleby from Movie Mobsters. Grade: 7.5/10
With a crackling and sharp-witted screenplay by Aaron Sorkin (based on Ben Mezrich’s book “The Accidental Billionaires”) and fluid, energetic direction by David Fincher, “The Social Network” has all the stuff of a Shakespearean history play: the intrigue of professional backstabbing, the tragedy of broken friendships, and the exhilaration of changing history. – Eric D. Snider. Grade: A- (8.5/10)
Wandering into these shades of gray, Fincher has created his most restrained and subtle film to date. The Social Network could have easily fallen into a trap of over-stylized and distractingly-flashy effects, but Fincher must have realized he wasn’t making “The MySpace Movie” and instead opted for approach that’s as clean and crisp as Facebook’s layout. – Matt Goldberg from Collider. Grade: A (9.0/10)
Many have been coining Zuckerberg as this generation’s “anti-hero,” and there’s a lot of truth to that statement. Zuckerberg is not portrayed in the best light, nor is his accomplishment – creating Facebook (or stealing it, how ever you wanna read into it). He’s created a form of social networking that shares/spreads his social coldness. His main motivation isn’t to start this groundbreaking social network that changes the way people communicate, but rather to get revenge. – Jack Giroux from The Film Stage. Grade: 9.0/10
When I was growing up, a wise person once told me that all people want is to be loved. If they can’t have love, they’ll take respect. And if they can’t have respect, they’ll settle for fear. These are the trade-offs that we watch Mark Zuckerberg make throughout the film. At the end of The Social Network, I wanted to hate Zuckerberg’s guts for his staggering success, which came about despite all the emotional damage he had perpetrated against those around him. But I also wanted to just give the guy a hug. – Dave Chen from /Film. Grade: 9.5/10
The question that everyone had on their minds when this film was announced to be in production was, is this a story worth making a movie of? The answer is unequivocally yes. If you try to think of the development of the internet as a medium of information, then Mark Zuckerberg’s contribution to how we all view the internet and how we use the internet. Today, there isn’t a TV show, movie, website, business, person who doesn’t have a Facebook page/profile/group/etc. – Andrew from GmanReviews. Grade: 10/10
Avg. Score: 9.0/10