by Josh Sewell
The Social Reckoning
(Rated R for language. Opens in theaters on October 9.)
I’m a big fan of Aaron Sorkin the screenwriter. It’s hard not to be considering he’s the brilliant mind responsible for films like A Few Good Men, The American President and Moneyball, as well as the classic television series The West Wing.
Sorkin the director, on the other hand… not so much. His work with David Fincher on their collective masterpiece The Social Network, combined with his solo efforts afterward, helps explain why. The two filmmakers couldn’t be more different.
Most of Fincher’s work is dark and deeply cynical, while Sorkin is an old-fashioned storyteller who worships at the altar of Frank Capra. He believes in the inherent goodness of people and institutions, while Fincher’s philosophy is that pretty much everyone and everything is terrible.
That’s why we’re still talking about The Social Network more than 15 years later while Sorkin-directed films Molly’s Game, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Being the Ricardos were forgotten almost immediately. Their collaboration was incredible because they’re so diametrically opposed.
Fincher’s presence is sorely missed in The Social Reckoning, the semi-sequel to that iconic film. When Sorkin is given free reign, his ego can’t help but expose all his worst traits as a writer and his limitations as a director.
Based on a true story, this follow-up centers on Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a young Facebook engineer who enlists the help of Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) to expose some of the company’s most dangerous, heavily guarded secrets.
If I’m being blunt, Sorkin just flat-out doesn’t understand how much technology, social media and politics have been corrupted since The Social Network hit theaters in 2015. His central premise in The Social Reckoning is the earth-shattering revelation that Facebook (among countless other corporations) learned weaponizing fear and anger could radicalize people and keep them on their phones longer. Mind blown, right?
When something thuddingly obvious is presented as the movie’s smoking gun, it’s clear you’re not exactly dealing with a filmmaker who has their finger on the pulse of current events. While the movie isn’t completely awful thanks to Sorkin’s usual crackling dialogue, it’s still a lot like listening to your out-of-touch grandpa rail against “the media” at Thanksgiving.
Luckily, the filmmaker has excellent performers like White and Oscar winner Madison who can elevate his outdated philosophies into a semi-entertaining story. However, it’s weird that Sorkin makes Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg such a prominent figure in this story, even though Jesse Eisenberg chose not to return (for good reason, in hindsight).
Jeremy Strong takes over the role in The Social Reckoning and despite being a phenomenal actor, as evidenced by his work in HBO’s Succession and films like The Apprentice and The Big Short, he simply doesn’t have a lot to work with here. Honestly, Sorkin could’ve cut his scenes from the movie and it wouldn’t have made a big difference.
Instead, Strong plays the character like an android who doesn’t understand humanity at all. Eisenberg’s interpretation of the character wasn’t heroic by any means, but he still felt like a real person. Fincher understood that evil rarely presents itself with flashing neon arrows; when Sorkin’s in the director’s chair, arrows are all he’s got.
The rest of the ensemble cast is also fun to watch, especially Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen and Bill Burr. I’ll never complain about talented people getting work. I just wish the movie surrounding them was better. Instead, it ends with a character fist pumping in victory, immediately followed by onscreen text saying Facebook got even worse in the years to come.
Mission accomplished, I guess?
Grade: C
Book Spotlight
Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub
(Now available.)
Other Worlds Than These is the finale of the Talisman trilogy created by Stephen King and the late Peter Straub, which brings the story of Jack Sawyer to a close while also wrapping up the former’s beloved Dark Tower saga. Readers first met Jack in The Talisman. when he was 12 years old, crossing America and “the territories” to save his mother’s life. They met him again in Black House, when an adult Jack faced a child killer and the Crimson King.
Now, in Other Worlds Than These, Jack must stop a rampaging gang of infected teenagers from America-side, and the forces of the mysterious Gullet at the edge of Mid-World, before it destroys our world and all worlds. The novel features 36 black-and-white illustrations by Gabriel Rodriguez.
Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knocked-Up Virgins Who Changed Comedy Forever, by Matt Singer
(Now available.)
Moviegoers in the early 2000s had a front row seat to a golden age of comedy. Ben Stiller, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Steve Carell and Vince Vaughn became unlikely leading men dubbed the “Frat Pack,” taking Hollywood by storm over the span of a decade. Then, seemingly overnight, Frat Pack movies vanished. Or did they?
In Funny Business, author and film critic Matt Singer traces the path these stars and directors took from the fringes of comedy to the mainstream, beginning on tiny stages like Second City and the Groundlings, then infiltrating into talent incubators like Saturday Night Live until they hit the big screen. Along the way, he shares stories from films including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Zoolander, Borat, Anchorman, Old School and The Hangover. How did these movies and their stars come to dominate a generation of moviemaking? Who won – and who was left out – of this comedy boom? And can studio comedies make a comeback in our modern digital and streaming world?
(Rated R for language. Opens in theaters on October 9.)
I’m a big fan of Aaron Sorkin the screenwriter. It’s hard not to be considering he’s the brilliant mind responsible for films like A Few Good Men, The American President and Moneyball, as well as the classic television series The West Wing.
Sorkin the director, on the other hand… not so much. His work with David Fincher on their collective masterpiece The Social Network, combined with his solo efforts afterward, helps explain why. The two filmmakers couldn’t be more different.
Most of Fincher’s work is dark and deeply cynical, while Sorkin is an old-fashioned storyteller who worships at the altar of Frank Capra. He believes in the inherent goodness of people and institutions, while Fincher’s philosophy is that pretty much everyone and everything is terrible.
That’s why we’re still talking about The Social Network more than 15 years later while Sorkin-directed films Molly’s Game, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Being the Ricardos were forgotten almost immediately. Their collaboration was incredible because they’re so diametrically opposed.
Fincher’s presence is sorely missed in The Social Reckoning, the semi-sequel to that iconic film. When Sorkin is given free reign, his ego can’t help but expose all his worst traits as a writer and his limitations as a director.
Based on a true story, this follow-up centers on Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a young Facebook engineer who enlists the help of Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) to expose some of the company’s most dangerous, heavily guarded secrets.
If I’m being blunt, Sorkin just flat-out doesn’t understand how much technology, social media and politics have been corrupted since The Social Network hit theaters in 2015. His central premise in The Social Reckoning is the earth-shattering revelation that Facebook (among countless other corporations) learned weaponizing fear and anger could radicalize people and keep them on their phones longer. Mind blown, right?
When something thuddingly obvious is presented as the movie’s smoking gun, it’s clear you’re not exactly dealing with a filmmaker who has their finger on the pulse of current events. While the movie isn’t completely awful thanks to Sorkin’s usual crackling dialogue, it’s still a lot like listening to your out-of-touch grandpa rail against “the media” at Thanksgiving.
Luckily, the filmmaker has excellent performers like White and Oscar winner Madison who can elevate his outdated philosophies into a semi-entertaining story. However, it’s weird that Sorkin makes Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg such a prominent figure in this story, even though Jesse Eisenberg chose not to return (for good reason, in hindsight).
Jeremy Strong takes over the role in The Social Reckoning and despite being a phenomenal actor, as evidenced by his work in HBO’s Succession and films like The Apprentice and The Big Short, he simply doesn’t have a lot to work with here. Honestly, Sorkin could’ve cut his scenes from the movie and it wouldn’t have made a big difference.
Instead, Strong plays the character like an android who doesn’t understand humanity at all. Eisenberg’s interpretation of the character wasn’t heroic by any means, but he still felt like a real person. Fincher understood that evil rarely presents itself with flashing neon arrows; when Sorkin’s in the director’s chair, arrows are all he’s got.
The rest of the ensemble cast is also fun to watch, especially Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen and Bill Burr. I’ll never complain about talented people getting work. I just wish the movie surrounding them was better. Instead, it ends with a character fist pumping in victory, immediately followed by onscreen text saying Facebook got even worse in the years to come.
Mission accomplished, I guess?
Grade: C
Book Spotlight
(Now available.)
Other Worlds Than These is the finale of the Talisman trilogy created by Stephen King and the late Peter Straub, which brings the story of Jack Sawyer to a close while also wrapping up the former’s beloved Dark Tower saga. Readers first met Jack in The Talisman. when he was 12 years old, crossing America and “the territories” to save his mother’s life. They met him again in Black House, when an adult Jack faced a child killer and the Crimson King.
Now, in Other Worlds Than These, Jack must stop a rampaging gang of infected teenagers from America-side, and the forces of the mysterious Gullet at the edge of Mid-World, before it destroys our world and all worlds. The novel features 36 black-and-white illustrations by Gabriel Rodriguez.
(Now available.)
Moviegoers in the early 2000s had a front row seat to a golden age of comedy. Ben Stiller, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Steve Carell and Vince Vaughn became unlikely leading men dubbed the “Frat Pack,” taking Hollywood by storm over the span of a decade. Then, seemingly overnight, Frat Pack movies vanished. Or did they?
In Funny Business, author and film critic Matt Singer traces the path these stars and directors took from the fringes of comedy to the mainstream, beginning on tiny stages like Second City and the Groundlings, then infiltrating into talent incubators like Saturday Night Live until they hit the big screen. Along the way, he shares stories from films including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Zoolander, Borat, Anchorman, Old School and The Hangover. How did these movies and their stars come to dominate a generation of moviemaking? Who won – and who was left out – of this comedy boom? And can studio comedies make a comeback in our modern digital and streaming world?
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com or on BlueSky @joshsewell.bsky.social
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