Cinema Verite?

The Social Network is being promoted as one of the best films of the year. It's strange, then, that the main character on which the film revolves, CEO and founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, is not only refusing to see the film, but actively refuting its accuracy. Imitation is apparenly not the sincerest form of flattery in this situation, and it's hard to tell whether or not this film is worth seeing, controversy and all.

Here are some good reasons for and against seeing this film.

Against:

1- It's about Facebook. Blah.

2- For a film that's supposed to be so good, the previews look incredibly formulaic. It could be just the way the previews are structured, but there's pretty much no doubt as to how the film will roll out and we all know how the story ends.

3- The main character on which the film is based has openly said that it's grossly inaccurate. Not a great endorsement.

4- How interesting can 2 hours of a computer geek's life really be? Granted, you get to skip the hours in the basement eating cheeseburgers and programming while debating the merits of Star Wars. But it's still about that kind of guy. How much social awkwardness does one person need to experience in a theatre? Isn't going on a date there good enough?


For:

1- The critics say it's good. That sometimes means it's true.

2- The main character doesn't like how he's portrayed. Doesn't that make you curious to see just how bad he looks?

3- Justin Timberlake is in it. That ups the cool factor right there, even though it's hard to see him in a film without imagining that he's suddenly going to break out into SexyBack in the middle of a scene. Which we would all pay to see.

All in all, it's going to be coin toss. If the film lives up to the critics claims, it will be noteworthy, if not a true cinematic experience. If it doesn't, it will just be more time wasted- like Facebook.