I’m necessarily fascinated by Facebook. I adore the movies of David Fincher. I can tolerate Aaron Sorkin’s schtickiness. Jesse Eisenberg did young neurotic well in “The Squid and the Whale.”
So why am I not excited about “The Social Network,” the forthcoming fil-um about the shady-to-the-max early days of the social network?
Probably because the most recent trailer, the second so far, makes it looks like the movie will be an uber-serious, talky-to-a-fault snoozefest investigation into whether Mark Zuckerberg snatched the idea for Facebook from its original founders. I’m envsioning “Zodiac,” another Fincher effort, also uber-serious and talky but not necessarily too long, adapted for a maybe-maybe not-maybe-ok probably theft of intellectual property.
The trailer, while nicely produced, feels off tonally.
This is about some lol-ling Harvard geek engaging in dormroom corporate espionage. When you think about it, an observant R.A. might have been able to keep Facebook’s origins on the straight and narrow. I’m not playing down the severity of IP crimes. Billions were at stake, even if the post-adolescent players didn’t know it at the time. But I’m not sure the subject matter warrants the somberness. The events chronicled in “Zodiac” were slightly more serious. Facebook? Those people had their faces blown off.
I’m not sure what kind of movie I’d make about Facebook, but I think I’d go the black comedy route and add some fantasy elements. Think “Dr. Strangelove” meets “Tron,” the 1980s Disney sci-fi movie in which crag-free Jeff Bridges was sucked into a video game. Why Tron? I think its visual sensibility would help in explaining the social graph.
Another idea: Have you seen “Pirates of Silicon Valley”? I never really thought I’d find myself recommending a Noah Wylie-Anthony Michael Hall vehicle that aired on TNT, but I think it dulls down the edges of the Bill Gates-Steve Jobs rivalry without losing the sense of conflict. It’s a kitschy and fun movie that isn’t over-serious. Which is where I think a movie about Facebook should be.
