The Social Network

"Did I adequately answer your condescending question?"

The Social Network is David Fincher's look at the events that unfolded around the creation of Facebook and the subsequent fallout.  It is a film about the  Social Media generation - that schizophrenic demographic that TV schedulers constantly fear will change the channel if they don't fully engage their imagination every nanosecond - and it is the perfect picture for this collective.  Gripping, entertaining and mildly schizophrenic itself, The Social Network is exactly what you'll have already seen it called by a number of more eloquent speakers for our time than I - zeitgeisty!
Flicking through its own timeline like a TV scheduler's nightmare, Fincher's latest classic hits its stride early on.  Its opening scene presents Mark Zuckerberg (a perfectly cast Jesse Eisenberg) as a socially inept genius, failing to get to grips with a real conversation with his girlfriend, firing off unknowing insults left, right and centre, and clearly with a way of reading the world on a completely different level to anyone else he knows.  Zuckerberg isn't intentionally cruel or evil, his brain is just working faster than yours and it isn't his fault if you can't keep up. 
This is a film that doesn't stop.  Three different periods of Facebook's creation and development keep interrupting, arguing with and illuminating one another.  It is brilliantly handled with dexterity and energy.  Aaron Sorkin's script lands hit after hit after speedy, quotable hit ("I'm 6'5", 220 pounds, and there are two of me.").  If someone were to write a film based on a not-necessarily-entirely-true account of my life I'd like to nominate this guy.  He keeps the protagonists snarky and cool but sympathetic enough to save a character like Zuckerberg from entirely alienating the audience.
Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake are all excellent.  Garfield is the perfect fit for a character who has to show strength even while getting left further and further behind by something that he helped to get started.  He does a very good line in vulnerable and his performance is heartbreaking to watch at times.  Timberlake's Sean Parker is charismatic and energetic.  You can see why Zuckerberg would be taken with him.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I preferred his performance in Alpha Dog (maybe because it was a revelation to see just how good he was or perhaps because he was playing slightly more against type) but his performance in this film underlines the fact that he could happily consider giving up the day job.  Eisenberg is absolutely wonderful as the 'low-functioning' geek with the need to succeed.  There are shades of The Big Bang's Sheldon towards the start of the film but as the script takes Mark to darker places, Eisenberg's performance just gets stronger.  His pattern of speech, social awkwardness and internal focus and drive are absolutely consistent and flawless.
A final mention must be made of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' driving score.  Underlining the action without drawing attention to itself - I just loved it.

Fincher has delivered a fast-paced, entertaining and gripping film with strong performances across the board - 9/10