Written by Aaron Sorkin, I first watched 'The Social Network' the year in which it was released, in a movie theatre. I was neither aware that it was an adapted screenplay, nor that it was written by Sorkin, who is a popular television writer. The descriptions, particularly in the opening scenes, of the characters are engaging and enticing. They give you a sense when reading exactly what the film will look like. The dialogue in the first scene is so mis-paced between the two characters that it is almost jarring. it gives you a great sense of the lack of social skills that Zuckerberg possesses without explicitly stating so. I can already tell from just a few pages in how well written this would be.
Unlike a few of the other scripts i have read, this one is very dialogue heavy and can go for pages without mentioning any action notes. I think this is so interesting, and reading it is like listening to a conversation in real time. I felt actively angry towards some of the characters just from reading their dialogue interactions and monologues. The dialogue is super sharp and witty.
The setting jumps between the present day courtroom proceedings and the past college and post-college days of Zuckerberg as he first founded Facebook. In this way, we learn from the proceedings that something has gone completely amiss and the best friend we see accompanying him along his journey has taken a 180 degree shift in opinion, and now the two partners have serious rivalry. We wait intently to find out what exactly has gone 'wrong' to ruin such a relationship.
Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian reviewed it very positively (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/14/the-social-network-review)
'This is an exhilaratingly hyperactive, hyperventilating portrait of an age when Web 2.0 became sexier and more important than politics, art, books – everything. Sorkin and Fincher combine the excitement with a dark, insistent kind of pessimism. Smart work.'
