No doubt by now you would’ve heard at least a passing bit of buzz about David Fincher’s The Social Network, penned by hyper-literate fan favourite Aaron Sorkin and released this past week in Australia. Because of its au courant subject – the trials and many tribulations accompanying the development of current internet giant Facebook – and also the film’s much publicised blurring of fact and fiction, The Social Network has arrived with an ocean of hyperbole behind it, making it one of the most talked about films of the year. And so it should be. As the sum of its parts would suggest – not just a Fincher/Sorking collaboration, but The Social Network also stars Jesse Eisenberg and a legitimately great Justin Timberlake, with an ear-grabbing score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross- this is a film worth seeing and worth talking about. And with the ever plugged-in nature of modern popular culture, it’s not just something we can ignore and scoff at for being some “silly Facebook movie”.

Centred around Facebook’s now 26 year-old creator Mark Zuckerberg – that’s Eisenberg at his off-putting, awkward best – The Social Network picks up at Harvard in the early ‘00s where Zuckerberg and best mate Eduardo Saverin – played by the likable next Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield – shuffle through college while striving for notoriety amongst the elite college clubs. After a sour night with his college girlfriend Erica Albright – portrayed by Rooney Mara with lasting intensity in her short screen-time – Zuckerberg makes his first bold move towards getting noticed, with the help of Saverin creating a bastard version of Hot Or Not localised to Harvard students called FaceMash. Making waves with FaceMash, Zuckerberg quickly moves to his next creation, The Facebook, the future MySpace killer which now boasts over 500 million users.

Of course, with that user base, we all know that Zuckerberg succeeded in setting up Facebook, bagging him the title of the world’s youngest billionaire with its online domination. But where the story gets interesting is in the middle, with the site’s development and the conflict and drama that came with its rise. Chief among that is the disintergration of Zuckerberg’s relationship with Saverin as well as the rivalry against Harvard power twins Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss – both played by Armie Hammer, who had tapped Zuckerberg to build their own social networking site, Harvard Connection. Fincher intercuts his retrospective retelling of Facebook’s birth with scenes where both Saverin and the Winklevoss twins are suing Zuckerberg. These scenes, in particular the latter lawsuit, are great cinema, with some memorable exchanges between a terrifically belligerent Zuckerberg and the Winklevoss’.

As the action heats up and The Facebook’s wheels begin to roll, Zuckerberg heads west to California, shacking up with Justin Timberlake’s Sean Parker, the disgruntled brains behind Napster. As Parker, Timberlake nails the wide-eyed self-belief and swagger which woos Zuckerberg, ingratiating himself into the Facebook fold and from there slowly dismantling Saverin’s involvement and his stake in the growing company, leading to the multi-million dollar lawsuit.

As it’s a film steeped in actual events, it’s difficult to step around the plot and structure of The Social Network, but I’ll try to leave it there, because although that’s a surprisingly great set up for a drama, The Social Network succeeds for other reasons. To begin with, all of the actors excel in their roles, especially Timberlake, Garfield and Hammer as the Winklevoss twins. Enough praise however can’t be given to Eisenberg for his turn as Zuckerberg. Whilst he’s been great as the socially challenged misfit in Zombieland and Adventureland, he’s a geek of a different kind in The Social Network; this time he’s a geek with power, something he both covets and relishes in having, perfectly portrayed through Eisenberg’s considered delivery and back-against-the-wall demeanour.

Of course, there’s also Sorkin’s screenplay. As is his signature, Sorkin’s dialogue is forever rapid fire, especially from Eisenberg who spits out Zuckerberg’s wordy diatribes with all the frostiness he can muster. But while this is indeed a serious film, there’s so much acerbic wit to the script, with some cuttingly funny lines bestowed on the Winklevoss twins in particular, offering some pace to the film’s escalating tension.

Where Sorkin has come under fire for his screenplay is with the creative liberties the writer has taken in polishing the Facebook story for the big screen. For instance, Sorkin places great weight on the emotional wounds that Zuckerberg carries from his relationship with Albright, a relationship of Sorkin’s own creation. What’s more, in his inflation of Zuckerberg’s character for the film, Sorkin relegates others present at the birth of Facebook – like co-founder Dustin Moskovitz – to the periphery as hapless witnesses to Zuckerberg’s almighty genius.

Still, while he may be adapting real life, Sorkin is indeed adapting something for a wide cinema audience, and therefore his creative alterations of Zuckerberg and company’s lives can be forgiven for the style and purpose of which they exist. The Social Network wouldn’t be the terrific and ingrossing film that it is without them.