The Social Network

Adapted by Aaron Sorkin from the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, The Social Network is a 2010 biographical drama directed by David Fincher and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer and Justin Timberlake.

It's 2003 and 19-year-old Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) has just been dumped by his girlfriend (Rooney Mara). Pissed off, he creates a website, hacks into the university database and publishes photos of female students for visitors of the site to vote on. The site is so popular, it crashes the network but also brings Zuckerberg to the attention of the Winklevoss twins (Hammer), who invite him to work on a university social site they they are developing. Zuckerberg, however, decides to also work on his own website and approaches his friend Eduardo Saverin (Garfield) for funding, calling his site The Facebook. Within months, the site becomes highly popular amongst students and soon other universities join in, which causes the Winklevoss twins to feel like their idea has been stolen. Not much later, Zuckerberg and Saverin meet Napster co-founder Sean Parker (Timberlake), who spreads the word about The Facebook in silicon valley and even suggests to drop the "The" to make the name more catchy and it's for long that the website starts to turn into a global sensation. But success also brings about greed and as the site starts making serious money, Zuckerberg finds himself losing friends and involved in legal disputes, which, along with the money, seriously alter his personal life.

The Social Network's main asset is it stunning script by Aaron Sorkin, which not only seemingly effortlessly chronicles the rise of Facebook as well as the effects its rapid growth had on those involved, but also is filled with sharp and stunning dialogue. Meanwhile, David Fincher directs the hell out of this movie and it easily ranks amongst the director's best works, which, in his case, says a lot. Add to that a solid cast who all bring their a-game and stunning moody cinematography by regular Fincher cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, sharp editing and a great soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and you easily have one of 2010's best movies. The Social Network was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three for Best Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Soundtrack, six Golden Globes, winning four for Best Director, Screenplay, Score and Dramatic Film, six BAFTA Awards, winning three for Best Director, Editing and Screenplay and a seemingly endless slew of international awards from many award ceremonies, festivals and critics' circles worldwide. Perhaps not one of the most accurate biographical features, The Social Network nonetheless remains of the most enjoyable and accomplished.