Reel Corner

Being a film enthusiast, I patronize all four theaters in the Hilton Head/Bluffton area. I notice things. I notice the specials offered, film selection, if my purse sticks to the floor, if there is a change in their popcorn and how each theater addresses attracting more patrons. I long for our local theaters to connect with area film festivals and be creative.
So when the Mann's recently took over the ownership of Park Plaza Cinema, I noticed. Lucie and her husband Larry exude an enthusiasm about films and their new theater that is contagious. They want attending their theater to be a total experience.

They greet patrons after the movie to ask how they enjoyed it, little doggie Annabelle makes an appearance once in a while as well. They offer weekly specials and want to develop a movie club on Facebook. Their vision for the theater is to display art, open a bistro-type cafÈ for after movie chats and an ice cream parlor to enhance their "Family Theater" image. With movies going so quickly to DVD maybe they're on to something.

The Social Network
Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield,
Armie Hammer Jr.
Directed by David Fincher
PG 13
A story of now, The Social Network movie is either a modern day tragedy or a modern success story, depending on how you look at it. Imagine going from nothing to a billionaire in less than a year. How do you even grasp that kind of success? How do you have a normal life? How do you address constant lawsuits? And how do you do this when you are 22 years old? When I was 22, I had just graduated from nursing school and was taking a bus to work. But  I wasn't a computer genius either.

This is a story of two friends - one a computer genius, the other a business expert. Together they built a Website that became the fastest growing Internet phenomenon, FACEBOOK! Three years later, one was suing the other for 600 million dollars. It's a story about friendship and betrayal, about the perils of money, about competitiveness and about college guys trying to meet girls. It's also unpredictable, funny and sad. Between the direction of Fincher and the script of Aron Sorkin the film version of this true story is riveting.

Most of the film scenes are sitting in front of computer screens or hashing out lawsuits around a larger than life conference table. This all sounds dull, but not in the hands of Sorkin. He is a master of dialogue to the point where it is difficult to keep your eyes off the screen. He also makes you smile. I love when a little humor is sprinkled into a drama, and Sorkin delivers it during a meeting between two disgruntled students who somehow secure an audience with the then Harvard president Larry Summers - a great scene.

Casted perfectly, Jesse Eisenberg comes of age in more ways than one as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. His handling of the rapid fire dialogue makes him a true award contender. Surprisingly, Justin Timberlake's portrayal of Sean Parker is terrific (folks may remember Parker who in the late 90's). Timberlake embraces the role as a "hustler-computer-know-it-all" who changed the CD record industry with the development of Napster offers his California venture capital connections to the duo. This performance should finally prove to audiences that Timberlake is more than a pretty face from the boy-band era.

When I see a film like this based on a true story about a young computer genius and the improbable world of mega-success, as a parent of two grown children, I'd like to ask Zuckerberg's parents what in the hell they fed their boy for breakfast.

Even if you don't use or have never heard of Facebook, it's a movie not to be missed. 4 Stars