Listen, we’re as excited as the next person for David Fincher’s upcoming film about the founding of Facebook, “The Social Network” but if there’s one we’ve learned it’s this: critics (online critics especially) tend to have overly enthusiastic reactions if they’re among the “first” to see a film whether in a select screening or at a festival. Remember all that “masterpiece” talk surrounding “Never Let Me Go” prior to TIFF? Where is that talk now? Obviously, studios are well aware of this so it’s no surprise that Sony has given a first look at “The Social Network” to a key handful of online scribes, and predictably, they’ve collectively blown their wad over the film.
Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere doesn’t mince any words saying, “It’s the strongest Best Picture contender [his emphasis] I’ve seen so far this year, and in saying this I’m obviously alluding to Inception.”
Quinte at AICN says, “I was blown away… The flick has zero fat on it… All the characters pop… All the dialogue, whether sad, funny or serious, is sharp and most important of all, entertaining… Mark Zuckerberg is the character Jesse Eisenberg was born to play…”
Steve Weintraub at Collider says, “A masterpiece… one of the best films I’ve seen in 2010…Fincher delivers a captivating film that had me engrossed from beginning to end.”
/Film’s Peter Sciretta joins in the praise saying, “‘The Social Network’ is Fincher’s best film since “Fight Club,” and it’s also my favorite movie of the year (so far)…”
Devin Faraci calls it “….a damn fine film, but I suspect a second viewing may reveal it to be a great film, an ‘All the President’s Men’ for the Farmville generation.”
You can check out the rest of the roundup of reviews over at The Wrap. While we’re glad the early word is good, we’re keeping our expectations in check until we can see the film for ourselves. But one thing every critic has agreed on so far, and which has been buzzed about for months, is that Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake deliver ace performances which certainly gives us hope that this will deliver on its positive early word.
“The Social Network” will premiere at the New York Film Festival before opening nationwide on October 1st.