The Social Network Script Review (Black List #2)

Aaron Sorkin Photo Credit: AP

The next script on the 2009 Black List is a heavy-hitter: “The Social Network,” an adaptation of a book, “The Accidental Billionaires” about the founding of the social networking site Facebook by Ben Mezrich. The source material is all based on truth and the book itself was a bestseller. And unlike “The Muppet Man,” this movie not only has a good chance of being made, it’s already in production for Columbia Pictures and being directed by David Fincher (“Fight Club,” “Seven,”…)

Did I mention the script was written by Aaron Sorkin? Yes, that Aaron Sorkin.

I told you this script was a heavy hitter.

Sorkin is easily one of the best, if not the best writer of intelligent dialogue in the business today.  Through his various television shows, the man has become the rare breed of screenwriter, the one that has name recognition. Basically him and Tarantino are the only ones who can get their names in light merely over a screenplay. So we know that Sorkin can write, but does it work in the “Social Network”?

Yes, very much so. By far one of the longest scripts I’ve ever read (it weighs in at 161 pages), it actually moves pretty briskly with the majority of the pages devoted to the kind of technical, yet understandable dialogue that Sorkin is known for. If there is any flaw with this script, it is that it has no discernible structure and evolves through many different phases of the story without warning.  This really isn’t a flaw in my opinion however, because Sorkin’s writing feels so immediate and involving that you are along for the ride all the way until the end of the story.

What is the story? To boil it down to the basics, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook while working with and for a couple of other people while at Harvard and they all got forced out when it went big. The story is for the most part a tragedy for all involved, as Zuckerberg’s arc through the story is very Shakespearean. Here is a man who wanted so badly to be accepted and loved that he created a website where he could be friends with everyone. Sorkin has captured a mad genius at work.

This movie works on many levels, and it is one of the funniest I’ve ever read. The script is modern and thrilling. I can’t wait to see the film in theaters when it premieres next year.

Final Score (9 out of 10)

Status: Currently in production under director David Fincher and starring Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake. Opens October 15, 2010.