Sniggers. That’s the reaction triggered in most people when they learned that the story of Facebook was being turned into a film. It sounded like one of those projects where Hollywood just signed up for a fast buck. It was simply a terrible idea.

And then the talent was announced: David Fincher to direct and highly respected writer Aaron Sorkin to jot down the words. All of a sudden, the project was liked by one and all. The end result however, took everyone by surprise.

Breaking up is never easy for anyone, but it’s got to be worse for the geeks of this world; it’s not like they get that kind of opportunity knocking on their laptops every day. So when Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) found himself dumped by his girlfriend, he took it hard. As a geek, the first thing he did was blog about it, but that wasn’t enough.

He then came up with an idea whilst drunk where female students were rated by how attractive they were. Once the site was built, it crashed within hours of being live. This caused all manner of attention. Most notably he was approached by a group of elite Harvard students, the brothers Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) and Divya (Max Minghella), about a site they wanted to create. Mark agreed to help them out. Sort of.

Their idea helped spawn an idea of his own: a website that allowed students to create a profile of themselves online and then have complete control over who gets to see it. He called it ‘The Facebook’. And so an internet phenomenon was born.

Although life was looking good online, offline – in the real world – he was taking other kinds of hits. Not only was his idea being scrutinized in court as to who exactly owned the intellectual property, but he was also under fire from his best friend and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). Needless to say, he was going to pay, one way or another.

Even with the talent involved – and there’s a lot of it all the way through this thing, including a great soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor – The Social Network has no right in being as entertaining as it is. It is after all, a tale of a geek with a good idea who gets sued for it. But even with what is essentially a dull premise, it just shines from beginning to end.

Fincher is a great director who manages to keep this internet ball rolling with pace and style. Cutting back and forth from court proceedings usually results in stage one Boredom Syndrome, but in Fincher’s hands, it works remarkably well. He does get a huge amount of help from the script however.

After not only creating but also writing TVs The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin has gotten a well-deserved reputation for his sharp and satirical style. Although his follow-up show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip didn’t get past its first series, it still contained all his trademark wit and humour. His forays into film scriptwriting haven’t made quite the same impression, except perhaps the one exception, his first, A Few Good Men, which was based on his own play, where he ably proved he could handle the truth. Somehow though, he takes the form to another level here. This film is just littered with verbal gems. They aren’t just reserved for lead Eisenberg either; nearly every character with a speaking role gets the opportunity to utter a Sorkin-written doozie. He orchestrates dialogue with the similar intensity of that of Mozart and his music. It’s evident for all to see that Sorkin definitely brought his A game to this film. But he wasn’t alone.

It would have been understandable if it was only Eisenberg who managed to steal the show; he’s putting together quite a CV, with performances that not only reveal his deftness for comedy, but also a subtle, all-encompassing acting arsenal. Fincher however, is a veritable directing mangle, squeezing out the very best from his entire cast, including Brit (and soon-to-be everyone’s favourite neighbourhood web-slinger) Garfield, and a superb turn by Justin Timberlake as Napster creator Sean Parker.

It’s only single weakness is that it’s all a bit boys-and-their-internet-toys kind of stuff, with females only getting a look in as objects of sexual desire. But as it’s based on true facts, Sorkin couldn’t really be expected to write in a strong female character for the hell of it.

Overall, The Social Network not only documents the birth of a modern phenomenon, its stylish execution makes it in itself a modern classic.

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