Runner Runner

I knew once I saw the trailer this movie would be somewhat of a letdown for me, because it revealed all the critical plot-points in the film, and graciously let me know what the major twists are; so if you still want to see this movie, then make sure the trailer doesn’t get viewed.  You can’t blame the trailer for everything though, because by itself it’s just the weakling son conceived between Romancing the Stone and the Social Network.  Here’s the thing that confuses me, while the movie was going on I was entertained with the fast paced/snappy storyline, and I even thought to myself that the acting was good for both Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, it’s just that once the movie was over I had completely forgotten what had happened; the flick was pretty forgettable.  Speaking about what had happened, let me give you a brief synopsis about what I think the film was about.  Justin Timberlake is living the American Dream by being a champion online poker player in order to make a living and pay for school, and everything was going great until (surprise surprise) he loses all his money and is forced to confront the rich douchebag in Costa Rica in order to get it back.  Well one thing leads to another, and because Justin is a grade-A wussy he ends up working for the man who once screwed him (not an innuendo).  Of course a bunch of crap goes down after that which was unfortunately revealed to me because the trailer keeps secrets about as much as Shamu keeps from killing trainers at sea world.  All in all I thought this was a “meh” film with some good parts thrown in here and there, but if I was to choose between buying and renting this movie I would most definitely choose the latter.  

2 out of 5

The Social Network

Overview:  Remember Columbus from "Zombieland"?  Well somewhere along the way of avoiding zombies, he developed this ultra nerdy Napoleonic Syndrome and became the creator of Facebook (that site that everyone wastes their lives on).  So there really isn't any connection between "Zombieland" and "Social Network", but it is the story of Mark Zuckerberg and how through betraying people and outsmarting his peers, he became the creator of Facebook and is now the youngest billionaire in the world.

The Good:  well first off this movie is fast paced! there is always some lawsuit going on, and then some flashbacks to Mark's time in college.  Jesse Eisenberg was nominated for a reason, he even made me want to be a pompous computer nerd... minus getting wedgies and swirlies by jocks.  The character development was extraordinary, and all throughout the characters were very believable, so there wasn't a scene where they looked fake.  What I enjoyed the most was Mark Zuckerberg's jerky attitude.  Every time there would be a lawsuit, Mark was so smart and fast at talking, that he always took his opponents down with a massive punch line and sent them home with their tails between their legs (they weren't really dogs, that was an expression).  Aside from Jesse Eisenberg's amazing acting, it was Andrew Garfield as Mark's best friend, and Justin Timberlake as the infamous Sean Parker who also pulled off some amazing acting jobs.

The  Bad: C wanted to punch Mark Zuckerberg in the face by the end, saying "HOW CAN HE DO THAT TO HIS FRIENDS?!!"  I, on the other hand, thought Mark was a jerk, but one of those jerks i'd get pizza with or something.  Will Ferrell said it best "I'm not even mad, that's amazing!"  Even though this movie was not as confusing as "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", it was still pretty confusing at times.  I can see a lot of people having a hard time when flashbacks between different lawsuits, college life, and post-college life start seemlessley transitioning between each other.  There were times during the movie I thought I was watching one of Mark's college flashbacks, only to realize he already created the darn thing.

The Ugly:  Awesome and very informative movie to watch!  The acting was perfect in this movie, but we didn't feel that it should have been nominated for best picture, because it didn't feel like it was on the same level as the other nominees.  We remember when first hearing about this movie at the theater and everybody leg out a slight groan, because how can you make a movie about Facebook?  Well as it turns out there is a great story behind it.

4 out of 5