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The Social Network

★★★

Director: David Fincher
Year: 2010

Some of you may wonder why I’m only giving this film 3-stars when on Rotten Tomatoes, this thing scored a 97/100 which is unheard of for a mainstream film.  The reason being: I read an article with Aaron Sorkin who claimed he and Ben Mezrich started from the same source material, but that his screenplay was completely different from Mezrich’s book.  Well, that’s total BS.

I’m a huge Mezrich fan, because all of his books are about precocious Ivy League students who make it big. They’re all supposed to be non-fiction, but you can tell where he dramatizes and where he tends to leave things alone.  Well, other than the device of the lawsuit trial, the Sorkin’s screenplay and dialogue is identical to Mezrich’s.

Now does that mean I should only give is 3-stars, probably not. But I didn’t get anything more than I got from the book, and that’s always the measure when you watch adaptations. Fincher did an amazing job with the pacing, lighting and casting of the film. But the real hero in the film is Trent Reznor’s score. It’s absolutely brilliant.

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