When it was first announced that David Fincher of all people was going to be directing a film about Facebook, I counted myself among those who presumed Fincher to have pretty much lost his mind. How can a film about the founding of Facebook be at all interesting, especially so soon after the events of its creation transpired? That the project is not only a success but one of 2010's best films is a testament to Finchers talent as a director and his seemingly perennial ability to surround himself with incredibly astute, like-minded collaborators. We very much welcome The Social Network's release on Blu-ray today. Here is our review... Beginning in 2003 at Harvard University, The Social Network introduces us to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) as he is told summarily by his fuming girlfriend, Erica (Rooney Mara), youre going to go through life thinking that girls dont like you because youre a nerd itll be because youre an asshole. This one quote seals Zuckerbergs double-edged fate as the founder of Facebook; driven to create something momentous to compensate for his social ineptitude, a juvenile website that compares the attractiveness of female students soon snowballs to gradually become what we know Facebook as today. However, that journey was not without turmoil; Zuckerberg had to juggle two concurrent lawsuits, one from his co-founder and friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), whose shares in the company were crassly dilluted down to virtually nothing, and also Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (both played, with the help of CGI, by Armie Hammer), who claim that Zuckerberg stole their idea. From the venom-filled pen of the acclaimed The West Wing scribe Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network operates less as a light campus drama and more as a brooding political thriller the likes of which hasnt been seen since the 1970s, in works such as All the Presidents Men and The Conversation. Though playing out as a finely-tuned conspiracy thriller in style and tone, the game is so very different in terms of actual content; the techno-centric nature of the argument only heightens the paranoia and complicates the situation on all sides, while an issue as simple as ownership is rendered agonisingly ambiguous here, with each party having both fair points and infractions. That the squabbling is all over a website is immaterial during the vicious courtroom scenes, but Sorkin importantly (especially as far as his Oscar chances go) takes his screenplay further, making it a witty, funny, scary monument to the very different world we now live in as a result of Zuckerbergs ubiquitous creation. A great deal of actors could have made good work of Sorkins brilliant script (which will win Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards), but it is nevertheless difficult to imagine anyone other than the excellent Jesse Eisenberg playing Zuckerberg. Taking the awkward, quirky kid role he has honed to the next step, it is here less of the attempt to ape Michael Cera that we have seen before (Zombieland) and instead something more textured and altogether better; a jittery, barely composed rendition of an ADD-suffering, impatient, brilliant genius, and of course, of an asshole. Placed upon a considerable pedestal by Sorkins script which has Zuckerberg reaming out just about anyone who challenges him, with razor-sharp retorts Eisenberg nevertheless rises to the challenge, and the Best Actor Oscar nomination surprised roughly nobody. In fact, just about everyone acts their hearts out in The Social Network, and aside from Eisenberg, the most stirring turn comes from the superb Andrew Garfield, who has impressed in a variety of roles up to this point (Boy A, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus), and continues with his best and most memorable to date, as Zuckerbergs kind-hearted but naive co-founder Eduardo. Garfield plays the part perfectly, garnering enormous sympathy for his characters maltreatment, yet also conceding vulnerability when the narrative calls for it. Had justice gone his way, he would be nominated up there with Eisenberg in a supporting capacity, his Oscar reel clip being an intense final confrontation between Eduardo, Zuckerberg, and Justin Timberlake's Sean Parker at Facebooks offices. Speaking of Sean Parker, the biggest surprise of all comes in Timberlakes thoroughly charming turn as the infamous Napster founder. Very quickly brushing away the stink of stunt casting, Timberlake doesnt exactly stretch himself or play against type, but he is absolutely effective in replicating his stage persona on-screen; that is, being a slick, high-rolling, suit-wearing bad-boy who, in this story, attempts to seduce Zuckerberg with the allure of Silicon Valley. He is not afraid to get his hands dirty, and in the aforementioned showdown with Eduardo, he is deliciously snide. Less a generation-defining film and more a film about what has defined our generation, The Social Network is a superbly sexed-up account of how Facebook came to be, and a pungent examination of how it changed all of our lives overnight (that, the more connected we are technologically, the more disconnected we become in terms of actual discourse). Sorkins classy script, Finchers seamless direction, all of the performances, Reznor and Ross searing score, the most technically precise editing since Inception, and even some unobtrusive visual effects make for a thoroughly entertaining chronicle of our times, and one that is not quite the years best for this critics money, but it is the type of smart, insightful, socially conscious film that wins Best Picture. We haven't had time to pour over the extra's just yet, because quite frankly we can't get over re-watching the film! Look for this post to be updated with the extra's soon. The Social Network is available on Blu-ray from today.