Day 06 – Movie with The Wittiest Script

Apologies for the late post. I was working the whole of yesterday and only got back after midnight. Anyway, Cumuloquoise and I are sharing about the movie which we though has the wittiest script.

In my opinion, this movie is The Social Network. I’m not sure how accurate the portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg was or how true the story was retold. But, from the entertainment and script perspective, their comebacks are just impressive. I often caught myself going — ooh… Ouch! Burn!

It was a brilliant showcase of Aaron Sorkin’s impeccable writing style and knack for writing dialogue with a very unique sound and rhythm. It was a language which normal people in our real world do not speak, but that just sounds great on-screen. Plus, through the dialogues, Sorkin created a loathsome protagonist we hate and are frustrated by but yet we still end up sympathising with. The rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue remains one of the highlights of the film for me and is definitely the movie with the wittiest script.

I mean, just check out these lines…

This was one when they were having a deposition and Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) totally dissed both the Winklevoss twins and the lawyers. It was super mind-blowingly condescending.

Gage: Mr. Zuckerberg, do I have your full attention?
Mark Zuckerberg: [stares out the window] No.
Gage: Do you think I deserve it?
Mark Zuckerberg: [looks at Gage] What?
Gage: Do you think I deserve your full attention?
Mark Zuckerberg: I had to swear an oath before we began this deposition, and I don’t want to perjure myself, so I have a legal obligation to say no.
Gage: Okay – no. You don’t think I deserve your attention.
Mark Zuckerberg: I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try – but there’s no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention – you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing. [pauses] Did I adequately answer your condescending question?

Just Like The Movies

Even the school just gives awesome exchange between the self-entitled obnoxious Winklevoss twins and Larry Summers (Douglas Urbanski).

Tyler Winklevoss: Sir, it’s against university rules to steal from another student, plain and simple.
Larry Summers: You’ve spoken to your house master?
Cameron Winklevoss: Yes, sir. And the house master made a recommendation to the Ad Board, but the Ad Board won’t see us.
Larry Summers: Have you tried dealing with the other student directly?
Cameron Winklevoss: Mr. Zuckerberg hasn’t been responding to any of our emails or phone calls for the last two weeks. He doesn’t answer when we knock on his door at Kirkland and the closest I’ve come to dealing with him face-to-face is when I saw him on the quad and chased him through Harvard Square.
Larry Summers: You chased him?
Cameron Winklevoss: [Stuttering a little] I-I-I saw him and I know he saw me. I went after him and then he disappeared.
Larry Summers: I don’t see this as a university issue.
Tyler Winklevoss: Of course this is a university issue. There’s a code of ethics and an honor code and he violated them both
Larry Summers: You enter into a code of ethics with the university, not with each other.
Tyler Winklevoss: I’m sorry, president Summers, but what you just said makes no sense to me at all.
Larry Summers: [Sarcastically] I’m devastated by that.

And, of course, the brilliant exchanges between Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake). Their looks plus the ability to deliver the lines with such swag?! That was just a feast in my eyes and in my brain. Total hands-down admiration for both of them!

Sean Parker: You don’t even know what the thing is yet. How big it can get, how far it can go. This is no time to take your chips down. A million dollars isn’t cool, you know what’s cool?
Eduardo Saverin: [Sarcastically] You?
Eduardo Saverin: [the scene shifts back to the deposition room] A billion dollars.

Pinterest

Plus, even the only woman, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), had pretty neat comebacks in a very testosterone-filled setting too.

Erica Albright: You called me a bitch on the Internet, Mark.
Mark Zuckerberg: That’s why I wanted to talk to you.
Erica Albright: On the Internet.
Mark Zuckerberg: That’s why I came over.
Erica Albright: Comparing women to farm animals.
Mark Zuckerberg: I didn’t end up doing that.
Erica Albright: It didn’t stop you from writing it. As if every thought that tumbles through your head was so clever it would be a crime for it not to be shared. The Internet’s not written in pencil, Mark, it’s written in ink. And you published that Erica Albright was a bitch, right before you made some ignorant crack about my family’s name, my bra size, and then rated women based on their hotness.
Reggie: Erica, is there a problem?
Erica Albright: [Turning to talk to Reggie] No, there’s no problem.
Erica Albright: [Turning back to face Mark] You write your snide bullshit from a dark room because that’s what the angry do nowadays. I was nice to you, don’t torture me for it.
Mark Zuckerberg: If we could just go somewhere for a minute.
Erica Albright: I don’t want to be rude to my friends.
Mark Zuckerberg: Okay.
Erica Albright: Okay. [pauses for a moment] Good luck with your video-game.

and

Erica Albright: You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you’re going to go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole.

I was so proud of this moment that I went,

Giphy

I mean, don’t you just wish you can say these lines in real life? I sometimes do.. If only I had the brain capacity to come up with such mind-blowing comebacks in split seconds…

Also, please note that there was a lot of friction between Sorkin and Zuckerberg (the real one) with regards to this movie. But, Sorkin never denied embellishing the real story of Facebook’s creation and creators. In fact, he argues that his tale is simply manufactured in a way that should entertain. So, still do sit back and watch The Social Network movie. It has amazing dialogues and comebacks you just can’t miss. But when you do, do take the story with a pinch of salt.

Catch you in a while for our favourite documentary! 🙂