Fincher Features (pt. II)

Lili’s Pick: The Game

Lanie’s Pick: The Social Network

This week, we continued our quest to watch every film by one of our very favorite directors, David Fincher, this time with the 1997 film The Game (a first-time watch for us both) and 2010 Academy Award-winning The Social Network (a film that was new to Lanie). Every Fincher film has been nearly flawless, so it only makes sense that we’d eventually view one that was not a winner, and that was very much proven by The Game. By the end of this long, exhausting, stressful-but-not-in-a-good-way film, I kinda just went “okay then”, as it failed to serve any of the thrills and chills that normally accompany a Fincher film. The Social Network, on the other hand, was a sigh of relief, as my second watch since middle school proved to be successful and twice as exciting as my first watch. Fincher loooves to watch boys fight and so do I. :) I hadn’t watched this film since it came out so it makes me so happy that I still love it, and honestly it makes me proud of my thirteen year old self who saw it in theaters. I’m not at liberty to discuss whether or not I currently work at Facebook, but I will say that I felt a deep catharsis watching this honest, stunningly, beautifully, unflattering depiction of Zuck and all the other bros. It still blows my mind that any of them agreed to have their likenesses featured. This is the role Jesse Eisenberg was born to play (sorry Jesse) and Andrew Garfield rightfully plays one of the only sympathetic characters, the other being Rooney Mara, who deserves an Oscar for that opening scene. That kind of masterful line delivery can only come from a woman who has known men like MZ, someone who knows the impossibility or reaching someone who’s missing the part of their brain that lacks empathy and shame. If you watch no other part of the film, fine, but this scene is worth your time. Aaron Sorkin’s writing was reliably compelling—he could write a mouthwash commercial and I guarantee you the dialogue would be captivating and quippy. There’s nothing better than an instantly gripping story that feels both real and unpredictable, plus there’s not one but TWO Armie Hammers, so… god why can’t I quit Armie Hammer…