Mark Zuckerberg reacts to 'The Social Network'

10/07/2010 by Corinne Heller

Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of social networking website Facebook and the world's youngest billionaire, does not appear to be affected by Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of him in the new film The Social Network.

The movie, which is currently ruling the U.S. box office, depicts the squabbles and legal issues among the players of the company, which started out as a networking tool for Harvard students.

"We build products that 500 million people see," Mashable.com quoted Zuckerbeg, 26, as saying. "If 5 million people see a movie, it doesnt really matter that much."

The website said Zuckerberg, who took several staff members to see the film when it opened, did not comment on his on-screen character and refused to rate the film. Zuckerberg has in the past dismissed the movie as "fiction" and Facebook refused to cooperate in its production.

After he saw The Social Network, Zuckerberg treated his staff to apple martinis, the same drink Eisenberg and Timberlake sip during their first meeting in the film, Us Weekly said.

The Social Network, which is based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, has been praised by almost all film critics of top newspapers, magazines and websites. In the film, Eisenberg portrays Zuckerberg as sarcastic, arrogant and aggressive, even to his friends.

Critic Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter called the Zuckerberg character in the film "thoroughly unlikeable", while James Berardinelli of ReelViews said: "The Social Network shows that, when pet projects are at issue, nerds can get as nasty and dirty as the most skilled backstabbers and double-dealers.

The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern said Eisenberg made the Facebook CEO "a digital Zorro slashing his way through Silicon Valley," adding: "The intensity of Mark's aggressivity is fascinating, though you keep waiting for him to reveal some fugitive trace of emotion. And the wait is rewarded when his psyche finally undergoes a subtle change."

Check out photos of Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake and more from The Social Network's September 29 screening: