10 Movies Nobody Wanted But Ended Up Loving

9. The Social Network

Ambulance Jake Gyllenhaal
Fox

Because Hollywood has never heard the phrase "too soon," of course they adapted the story of Facebook's creation into a feature film just two years after the website overtook MySpace as the most-visited social media platform.

Even with the great David Fincher directing a script from Aaron Sorkin, it was extremely difficult to get invested in the idea of a compelling movie about the origin story of Facebook.

More than anything, it was hard not to feel like Fincher was wasting his peerless directorial talents on such a limp, unnecessary project, especially one coming so soon after Facebook's creation, seemingly without the critical distance to do the subject true justice.

We probably all could've lived our lives just fine without The Social Network ever existing, but Fincher did his damnedest to challenge us otherwise, delivering a thrilling, impeccably directed, wittily scripted, and superbly acted drama on par with the best legal thrillers ever made.

As both a riveting character study of troubled genius Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and a drama that so ingeniously captured the zeitgeist of the early social media boom, the film became a pop-culture moment in its own right.

The Social Network was ultimately a huge critical and box office hit, winning three Oscars including Best Adapted Screenplay for Sorkin.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.