Social Network, The MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +4 Content: -2

Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield, Joseph Mazzello, Arnie Hammer (playing twins). Drama/biography. Written by Aaron Sorkin. Directed by David Fincher.

FILM SYNOPSIS: On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history, but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

PREVIEW REVIEW: A very well-made film, it holds you to your seat with magnetic performances and biting, witty and penetrating dialogue. It is a perceptive look at greed, power, and all things Internet, rightly proposing that our brave new world is not so much dominated by man’s intelligence, but his arrogance. Like the original Wall Street, The Social Network defines a generation of go-getters who finally get caught up in the same forbidden sins as any other generation, namely boundless pleasures of the flesh and the love of money.

Of course, a story can’t be told nowadays without Hollywood’s artists peppering the dialogue with objectionable language. Here the s-word (today’s “darn it”) is voiced whenever possible and Christ’s name is used to express frustration, endlessly. I must say, I almost accepted the profanity here as it displayed a total lack of moral and spiritual awareness. What impresses the film’s characters is the thought of gaining a billion dollars. Never once do they think about losing their very soul.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Columbia Pictures