10 Terrible Ideas That Became Great Movies
6. The Facebook Biopic - The Social Network
So many film lovers groaned loudly when Fox announced development of a film about the creation of Facebook, because who honestly would be interested in watching a movie about something so mundane?
Yet betting against David Fincher is a fool's errand at this point, because paired with a screenplay from a never-better Aaron Sorkin and a superb ensemble cast, The Social Network wasn't just a good or even great movie - it's one of the best of the last 20 years.
Fincher's film is so much more than The Facebook Movie - it's a fascinating examination of entrepreneurship in the Internet Era, a gripping courtroom drama that questions the nature of IP ownership, and a razor-sharp character study of Facebook's controversial figurehead, Mark Zuckerberg (brilliantly played by Jesse Eisenberg).
Fincher and Sorkin do about as much with this concept as any filmmakers possibly could, transforming a potentially dry tale of empire-building into a towering drama about one of the most pivotal creations of the 21st century.
That it lost both Best Picture and Best Director Oscars to The King's Speech - a fine film, mind - is a decision that's aged like milk left out in the sun all day long.