Given the director and writer I was expecting more.
The opening sequence feels like Sorkin with quick witty dialogue and there are a couple of other bits like that but they are few and far between, the rest of the dialogue, and narration, is pedestrian, anyone could have written it.
The direction is similarly disappointing, it's not bad, but there is nothing special here.
And that really describes the film, not bad but nothing special.
The acting is good Eisenberg, Garfield and Timberlake in particular deliver excellent performances and the rest of the cast are all convincing.
The main problem with this film is that it is hard to care about anyone in it, they all come across as arrogant, egotistic and generally unpleasant. Eduardo Saverin is the only likable character and he gets little screen time and spends the film being manipulated and generally messed about.
Zuckerberg comes across as less unpleasant than he should be, if you look at the events portrayed he should be the villain; instead he simply doesn't develop a personality, or at least not a believable one, a mixture of naivety and ruthlessness and don't go together and the film makes no attempt to explain his actions leaving the plot unsatisfying.
There are some nice flashes of humour, some funny dialogue and some well times slapstick, but not enough for this to be a comedy; it isn't detailed enough for a biography; it lacks the depth to be a good drama; that leaves it nowhere.
It took three sittings to finish since I kept losing interest.
The opening sequence feels like Sorkin with quick witty dialogue and there are a couple of other bits like that but they are few and far between, the rest of the dialogue, and narration, is pedestrian, anyone could have written it.
The direction is similarly disappointing, it's not bad, but there is nothing special here.
And that really describes the film, not bad but nothing special.
The acting is good Eisenberg, Garfield and Timberlake in particular deliver excellent performances and the rest of the cast are all convincing.
The main problem with this film is that it is hard to care about anyone in it, they all come across as arrogant, egotistic and generally unpleasant. Eduardo Saverin is the only likable character and he gets little screen time and spends the film being manipulated and generally messed about.
Zuckerberg comes across as less unpleasant than he should be, if you look at the events portrayed he should be the villain; instead he simply doesn't develop a personality, or at least not a believable one, a mixture of naivety and ruthlessness and don't go together and the film makes no attempt to explain his actions leaving the plot unsatisfying.
There are some nice flashes of humour, some funny dialogue and some well times slapstick, but not enough for this to be a comedy; it isn't detailed enough for a biography; it lacks the depth to be a good drama; that leaves it nowhere.
It took three sittings to finish since I kept losing interest.