The Social Network was a decent movie but it wasn’t worth an Academy Award nomination or eight.

First of all, the story is about how Facebook started and then became a world-wide phenomenon. It started slowly which did not capture my attention right away. If I hadn’t wanted to watch it so badly, I don’t think I would have continued watching after the 10-minute mark.

It was interesting to learn about the politics and science behind the project but for me it was too “business-y” and just boring. Apparently long drawn-out movies are popular these days considering the buzz and build-up this movie had. It was a complete let-down.

It would have almost been more effective and exciting to read the Wikipedia page about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg.

The only concept I just do not understand is why and how this movie got eight Oscar nominations.

Like stated previously, the movie is decent but not at all worth the awards it’s been nominated for, or the awards it won.

Golden Globes Best Picture? Unfortunately, this let-down of a movie swept away with several awards from the Golden Globes when there were so many other superior films that could have easily taken the top spot.

The only reason it’s so popular is because it’s the story about the biggest social networking website (hence the clever title). If there were movies about Myspace, Nexopia and Twitter, it’s just proof the industry is running out of ideas.

Towards the end of the movie, it gets to the “exhilarating” climax and then – it ends. The last five minutes, it’s photos and text about what happens but we don’t get to watch. That’s because the first 75 minutes was building up to, well, nothing.

The movie was overall well done if that’s the type of movie you’re into but it was blown way out of proportion and for that reason I was quite disappointed

JESSICA DECOSTE

With a total of eight Academy Award nominations, The Social Network demonstrates the power of an idea and the rise of social networking.

The premise of the movie is relatively ordinary by nature. Boy goes to school at Harvard. Gets the social networking idea from someone else. Creates his own version of the website. Gets filthy, stinking rich and lives happily ever after.

Because the movie does involve non-fictional characters, the real-life people depicted in the movie have said publicly that the movie is fictional.

There’s also the omission of “the following movie is based on a true story” prompt before the movie begins.

So while it’s easy to get caught up in the mindset of “I can’t believe he was like that,” it’s important to note that the film is, in fact, fictional.

Having said all of that, the writers and director David Fincher have done a terrific job relaying this script into a very intriguing movie.

Lead actor Jesse Eisenberg plays the role of Mark Zuckerberg, the visionary behind Facebook. Eisenberg’s performance garnered him an Oscar nomination as a young man striving for notoriety.

Another notable piece of acting comes from Andrew Garfield who plays Zuckerberg’s friend and business partner, Eduardo Saverin. He was able to convey the business side of his personality while also attempting to protect Zuckerberg’s vision for the site.

And then comes the insertion of Justin Timberlake as the creator of Napster himself, Sean Parker. My skepticism of Timberlake’s inclusion in the movie was quickly squashed upon seeing the movie in full bloom.

Not only was Timberlake’s performance stellar, it improved the movie a great deal.

While my opposition feels differently, the one thing I know for sure is that when the movie ended, my Facebook status read, “thinks The Social Network is worth seeing.” 

CRAIG ORR