If there’s one thing The Social Network does extremely well, it is telling a story. Here is a movie that focuses on one man, Mark Zuckerberg, and the events in his life over the past seven years. There’s no standard biopic fare, like having the protagonist dwell an awful lot on one inconsequential character. There are no slow, “moving” scenes as the protagonist walks down an empty street to sombre music. There are no group hugs, or musical montages. The Social Network tells a story, and it tells it well.

The story follows Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), the founder of Facebook and the youngest billionaire in the world, starting from his not-so-humble beginnings at Harvard. Angry at being dumped by his girlfriend, he drunkenly makes a website called Facemash where visitors rank the hotness of women. His stunt captures the attention of well-to-do twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (both seamlessly played by Armie Hammer) and their business partner, Divya Narendra (Max Minghella). They have an idea for a social networking website called Harvard Connections, and Zuckerberg jumps on board. He then proceeds to stall them for weeks, before approaching his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) to fund his own site, The Facebook. The plot cuts back and forth between these events and a time closer to the present, where Zuckerberg is being sued by the Winklevosses and Narendra, and by his former best friend Eduardo.

The Social Network is a good movie. It travels along at a good pace, the acting is top-notch, and the plot never drags. However, perhaps its most notable strength is its most notable weakness. With such an emphasis on plot, it makes it hard to emotionally engage with the characters. Mark Zuckerberg isn’t presented as a protagonist, he’s presented as Mark Zuckerberg. But when you have a solid plot and fantastic acting, this seems like a bit of a minor gripe.

Speaking of the acting, if anyone had any doubts about Jesse Eisenberg’s acting chops, they will have been erased by this movie. Eisenberg is a solid performer and he is entirely believable as the, shall we say, less socially apt Mark Zuckerberg. Another excellent casting choice was Justin Timberlake, who yet again proves that he should be spending less time singing and more time acting. Other than those two, the rest of the cast is populated with lesser-known talents, but they all work well as an ensemble. Oh, and the oddly beguiling Rashida Jones has a small part, something which put a smile on my face.

This is a solid, well-plotted movie with a good cast. No, you won’t leave the cinema in tears or with a huge crush on Mark Zuckerberg, and all the better for it. This is a movie that strips away the unnecessary frivolity often found in bio-pics and just gets down to business. The Social Network is definitely worth a watch.