IR Film Review: THE SOCIAL RECKONING [Sony]

The aspect of follow up in this context of the social media game makes a lot of sense but since "The Social Network" came out, the world has changed so much. It would seem the time is right for that next look but the context has to do with power versus the lack of it when before it was about the young conquering the world. Now those kids are grown up...and we only see one side of what happened. Writer Aaron Sorkin takes over directing duties from David Fincher here to differing successes. “The Social Reckoning” is not a bad movie at all…it is just not water cooler good. "The Social Network" worked on a certain cinematic precipice and was on the edge of everyone's consciousness. It was also about kids taking over the world which to the youth with that cast made it the right possibility. "The Social Reckoning" is about the evolution of that change into middle age which is not as glamorous...even in that world. The plot here follows an investigative reporter Jeff Horwitz (played by The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White) who comes out to San Francisco to write on the political Implications of Facebook. He is not a tech reporter but knows there is something to be had. He holes up in a hotel (the Journal must have spent a lot of money on that over months in San Fran). After trolling he eventually finds an altruistic person in Frances (Mickey Madison who won the Oscar for "Anora"). Her thoughts and grievances, having worked on the integrity team, are sound and yet she loves the company she works for so she thinks some good will come out of it. It is an interesting diametric. It is also an intriguing choice for Madison as a follow up to the Oscar since many are judged on this selection. It is very smart considering the character she played previously. It is antithetical to that and yet not in certain ways.

Now whether or not it connects is to be seen. The performance she does here is a little more muted and yet when she shows up to Horwitz’s hotel she does wear alluring outfits as a pretense to make people think something is going on when it isn’t. It is a weird psychological play. It is also not clear either if it is true to life. There is a chemistry to them but there is also a lot of dialogue of her explaining the tech. Now this is what Sorkin is good at but at times in this day and age it could work better on television because you might lose the audience. The narrative is clear and the way Sorkin uses structure moving back ward and forward in time is a good mechanical element but it never feels like cinema. It feels more like a 70s movie like "All The President’s Men" which is good but might not work in this climate compared to 15 years ago. Mark Strong plays the grown up Mark Zuckerberg and he does really capture the man but there is a lack of consistency since Jesse Eisenberg originally played him. It doesn’t take away from Sttong’s performance (but his performance does feel more Performative versus the more Organic nature of Eisenberg. We also mostly just see Zuckerberg preparing for the senate committee while getting reluctant notes from Billy Burr’s consuktant character (who doesn't seem to like him very much). Again all this works well but it didn’t necessarily need to be a movie. That said the film builds to the breaking point it needs to especially in the culmination of the Jan 6th riot in Washington which brings to bear what the algorithm did. The movie is very well written with good performances. It is just not inherently cinematic (like the previous installment) but it is also not hard to look at either. "The Social Reckoning" is a well-done progression of events from the social network which implications that truly connect us all with good performances and crisp storytelling yet it does lack some flair the first one had. 87%/B/B+

By Tim Wassberg