Plot: What’s it about?
Facebook. Heard of it? Odds are that if you’re reading this review you’ve either come from Facebook or will visit there shortly. It’s a fact. It’s hard to believe that only seven years ago Facebook was but a mere thought in Mark Zuckerberg’s head and now it’s something that world literally relies on. Amazing. The thing about the internet (and this door swings both ways) is that everyone is connected, so getting an idea, picture or anything else to someone is a snap. But it’s the networking part of things that can make or break you. We’ve all received forwarded emails with a funny picture or video that we forward to our family and friends. Facebook is pretty much that, plus a lot more. For those that think this is “the Facebook movie” are only half right. Yes, this does deal with the inception of Facebook and the early stages of how it came to be, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a work of fiction and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has taken some pretty generous liberties with the story. So if you want a step by step account of Facebook, check this out. But if you’re looking for a superb movie, then read on.
It’s the Fall of 2003 and Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) has just been broken up with. He heads back to his dorm room at Harvard University, cracks another beer and starts blogging about her. And then…it hits him. He quickly hacks the other dorms on campus and compiles a database of pictures of all the females. He sends links to his friends and they vote on who’s better-looking. In a strange sort of way, this is how Facebook was born. We’re brought through the early steps of the development and Mark’s friend and future CFO of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) as he financially backs the startup company. Mark is then approached by three upper class men with an idea called “Harvard Connect” in which he’s to build a site (much like Facebook) for these three gentlemen. He leads them on and instead continues development of Facebook (then called “The Facebook”). The movie is told in flashback form as Mark is in the process of two courtroom proceedings. Yes, he’s being sued by his best friend and the three classmates who claim that he stole their idea. As Mark so eloquently puts it “If you’d have come up with the idea of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook.”
Few movies really like up to the hype that surrounds them, but I think The Social Network is one of the rare exceptions to the rule. Sharply written and crafted by Aaron Sorkin and expertly directed by David Fincher (who is usually known for much darker works like Se7en and Fight Club), The Social Network manages to tell the tale and keep us interested for the entire 120 minutes. Zuckerberg is played to near perfection by Eisenberg who, until now, I thought was a clone of Michael Cera. Clearly I was wrong in my judgment. And, ironically enough, Eisenberg’s character in the movie Zombieland had a quote that mentioned how glad he was that he no longer had to make updates to his Facebook status (now that the world was rid of people). The Social Network manages to be smart, sharp and witty without being pretentious.
Video: How does it look?
This is the first time the film has been shown in 4K and, as such, the majority of the mood is dark, it takes place in dorm rooms and later a house in California. The color palette used is very muted, though it still manages to look very natural. Clarity is right up there and we can even see so much detail it allowed me to find a glaring continuity error: Zuckerberg’s computer has Windows 7 installed whereas in 2003 it should have been Windows XP. Flesh tones seem normal, contrast is perfect and all things considered it’s just as we’d expect for a movie that’s new to the format. Simply put, it has a more natural look and feel, though the original Blu-ray was certainly not lacking.
Audio: How does it sound?
If you’d have told me that the lead singer for Nine Inch Nails (Trent Reznor) would be doing the score for a movie about a web site I’d have told you that you were crazy. Still it’s Reznor’s understated, organic score that really sets the mood for the film. As he mentions, it’s not something that we wanted to be perfect and an exact digital representation. In many ways it was kind of “messy” if you will. Given the new Dolby Atmos mix, I found the majority of the film is dialogue-driven and if you can keep up with Eisenberg’s motor mouth, you’ll do fine. There is one key scene in a nightclub that really makes use of the speakers and the LFE in particular. Aside from that, it’s a great overall soundtrack Reznor’s well-deserved Oscar is living proof.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All of the supplements from the previously-released Blu-ray seem to have made the leap to this 4K disc.
- Audio Commentary – The first track is with director David Fincher. I’m a fan of Fincher’s tracks and have listened to them on several other films and he delivers yet again here. He’s got plenty of information on the shoot, the script and the actors involved with the project.
- Audio Commentary – The second track is a bit more fun to listen to as it contains screenwriter and the ensemble cast. I’ve never been too much of a fan of Sorkin personally, but he is very articulate and delivers a good track. The cast doesn’t seem to get too involved, but does step in from time to time and adds some information.
- How Did They Ever Make a Movie About Facebook? – We get some information about the score of the film, the screenwriting, the visual effects used within and the physical locations used for shooting (Boston and Los Angeles).
- Post-Production Featurettes – Broken down into “The Visuals”, “Post” and “The Score” the titles say it all. We get some looks at how each segment of the film was broken down, “fixed” (for lack of a better term) and molded into the final product we see today.
- Music Exploration – A rather interesting feature that gives us way too much detail about “In the Hall of the Mountain King” during the rowing sequence.
- Swarmatron – The custom made instrument used by Trent Reznor.
- Ruby Skye VIP Room – We get a multi-angle segment that shows us a breakdown of this scene. Is it me or did the whole “multi-angle” thing never really take off with DVD/Blu-ray?
- Theatrical Trailers
The Bottom Line
A decade and a half after its release, The Social Network (to me) is still every bit as relevant as it was when it came out. Some things have changed, but it shows what a good, well-written/acted/directed film does indeed stand the test of time. Sony’s three-disc set is certainly worth the investment if you’re a fan. And many are.
