43 days without a post?!? Mea Culpa and pass the ketchup. I've been a bum. Blame my descent into the holidays, but there it is. You blink, and it's award season and the parental movie fan, dependent on home viewing finds himself desperately behind. Whither True Grit? Black Swan? Their siren song is calling.
But I did see The Social Network. I must preface that I'm a big David Fincher fan, though I was on the not-so-much side of the bus with Benjamin Button. And dammit if I'm not still on that same side of the bus here. It started off great, but it just didn't connect for me. This is the great Aaron Sorkin script everyone's been lauding? For me, the staying power of this movie was akin to Up in the Air from last year. Very contemporary and I'm afraid history won't be to kind to it. I don't think it's a significant as it wants to be. I loved the "Winklevi" (Armie Hammer is terrific), but ya know, it's distracting that it's an effect. Likewise, when characters are ostensibly outside talking on a cold Cambridge night, I'm too aware of Fincher's CGI "breath," and that took me out of the damn scene.
Painfully, Andrew Garfield's betrayed Eduardo is the weak link in the film. The guy just doesn't have the acting chops and earnestness will only get you so far. He just wasn't doing it for me and sadly, this is the guy that will be the new Peter Parker/Spider-man in the tweeny reboot in 2012. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this..."
You can't fault Fincher's overall direction, he does a great job evoking a sense of place and making the laptop world seem fraught with peril and high stakes. But let me be honest -- it's really hard for me to get too broken up or invested in the trials and tribulations of a bunch of affluent, entitled Harvard students. Boo-freakin'-hoo! Not when it's this talky. Also, Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg -- the main character -- is a complete cipher. We never learn anything about his background, who he is, his fears, his dreams, his family -- nothing.
So I'm not ready to UnFriend David Fincher, but after this and Button I think I have to say I think Christopher Nolan has pulled ahead of him in terms of compelling storytelling. Here's hoping he redeems himself next Christmas with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Posts
wow. so not with you on this. To me, Button is Fincher's one big misfire, but after seeing Social Network, I was ready to pop it right back in and watch it again, if only for the craftsmanship. I'll give you that there's not much emotion to it, and it's hard to feel bad for billionaires, but I liked Garfield and even Eisenberg -- who I generally can't stand; at least I was SUPPOSED to not be able to stand him in this one.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Winkelvii, I wonder how you'd feel if you didn't know it was a digital trick -- I thought it was fairly seamless, and Amy was totally fooled. She immediately asked where Fincher found the twins.
To me, it's not a "blow you away" kind of movie, but something to soak into, and much more subtle than Fincher's previous work. And YES, the sorkin script is pretty fantastic. I don't know if it's the best thing he's ever written -- I'm pretty partial to a few west wing episodes that I put in the pantheon of greatness -- but it's quick and witty and changes time/place without letting the audience get lost in a way I thought was fairly masterful.
(I will say that when I saw the breath in the outdoor scene, it took me out of the movie -- I don't know for sure that it was CGI, but I wondered...)
as for the fincher/nolan comparison, as much as I admire Nolan's films, I'd still give Fincher the edge -- Nolan's still got a bit of clunkiness to his movies that I find offputting -- but it's a worthwhile discussion to have. let's do that in person soon, eh?