James Shanklin Movies

Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven) teams with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) to explore the meaning of success in the early 21st century from the perspectives of the technological innovators who revolutionized the way we all communicate. The year was 2003. As prohibitively expensive technology became affordable to the masses and the Internet made it easy to stay in touch with people who were halfway across the world, Harvard undergrad and computer programming wizard Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) launched a website with the potential to alter the very fabric of our society. At the time, Zuckerberg was just six years away from making his first million. But his hearty payday would come at a high price, because despite all of Zuckerberg's wealth and success, his personal life began to suffer as he became mired in legal disputes, and discovered that many of the 500 million people he had friended during his rise to the top were eager to see him fall. Chief among that growing list of detractors was Zuckerberg's former college friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), whose generous financial contributions to Facebook served as the seed that helped the company to sprout. And some might argue that Zuckerberg's bold venture wouldn't have evolved into the cultural juggernaut that it ultimately became had Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) not spread the word about Facebook to the venture capitalists from Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) engage Zuckerberg in a fierce courtroom battle for ownership of Facebook that left many suspecting the young entrepreneur might have let his greed eclipse his better judgment. The Social Network was based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A prep school student is murdered, apparently without motive. Further investigation reveals that the boy's wealthy father, Peter Wilder (Henry Woronicz), was being blackmailed over a sordid incident in his past. The key to solving this case is in the hands of a "mystery woman" -- if only the detectives and the D.A.'s office can find her. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A series of threatening e-mails suggests that a young nurse found unconscious after falling down a flight of stairs was the victim of a voyeuristic cyber-stalker. Further investigation reveals that the woman may have faked her own attack as means of drawing police attention to her plight. As a result, the case is dropped -- and a murder occurs soon afterward. In a powerful courtroom finale, detective partners Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) each provide testimony which contradicts the other's words. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi