21 Best Films Of The 21st Century By Genre

The idea of detailing the creation of Facebook and subsequent law suites against the company's creator into an interesting movie sounded like an impossible task. In lesser hands, the film could easily have turned into an overdose of techno babble, with drawn out and over the top legal proceedings creating a false sense of drama.

Instead, the writing-director combo of Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher makes the brave decision to make the film a biopic of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and we are all rewarded for their decision. Jesse Eisenberg is incredible as the charisma less and socially awkward Zuckerberg, portraying him as a lonely soul who unwittingly and unemotionally becomes the villain of the day.

The portrayal of Zuckerberg as an eccentric genius could have been achieved by a number of young actors, but it is Eisenberg's ability to dig beneath the surface to show us how the man ticks that makes this film really work. Every seemingly cruel decision dished out by the Facebook boss isn't shown as an act of callous villainy, but instead one man's total inability to make genuine social connections.

In term of other top biopics of the 21st century, there was very much a strong musical component present. Walk the Line was the pick of these thanks to a cracking lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman also benefitted from strong portrayals of Freddie Mercury and Elton respectively, and the ability to not take themselves too seriously.