Leroy Nguyen (Washington, D.C.)

I agree with another reviewer's thoughts when he stated that this movie felt like a long episode of The Big Bang Theory.

I find this movie to be a little difficult to review. First of all, it is very well made. The crew obviously had both a budget and previous movie-making experience. Most of the shots were clean (although nothing really special), the editing was clean, and the acting was...clean. Almost everything about this production screams professionalism. However, as another review has stated, that level of professionalism almost works against the movie.

For a "test movie" being so well made I thought this was pretty bland. Sure, it was technically sound (while not all that impressive), but everything felt so calculated and on the point that there was almost nothing really special about the overall end piece. With the characters you've got your typical Straight Guy, Minority Sidekick, Hot Chick (who happens to also be a minority...Asian schoolgirl at that), and the Infuriatingly Annoying Weird Comic-Relief Guy (a character I thought would've been more suited as part of the Minority Sidekick rather than an entirely separate character). These types of characters might've stood out from the rest of the pack about ten years ago, but now these "Quirky Outcast" characters have become stereotypes of themselves. That might have been more of a problem with the script rather than the acting or the direction itself, but it's still something to think about.

I also have to question the use of name-brands in this movie. Facebook is the big one, and I can see this movie winning just based on the fact that Facebook is in the title. I don't want to nitpick too much, but I thought the guidelines of this contest stated that all images and sounds needed to be owned by the filmmakers.

While I sound like I'm being harsh on the movie, I must state that I am only expressing my own personal thoughts. As mentioned before, this is a very well-made movie. It looks and sounds good, the acting is great for the most part (aside from...well...the Pants character), and the story structure made sense. I just wish they did MORE with this. It feels like the filmmakers were playing it too safe in trying to cater to the mainstream audience. There is simply nothing special or unique about this movie. Everything happens and unfolds the way you think it would. All of the characters act or say things that you would expect these types of characters to act or say. All of the story beats are placed in such a way that it becomes predictable.

However, with all those negatives I listed I can't help but feel that this movie will be successful. Will it be successful because it is a Facebook-themed movie? Probably, yeah. Will it succeed because it doesn't require too much thinking? It doesn't hurt. Will the money come in because it features characters that are now the archetypes for this new wave of "Quirky Outcast" sitcoms? I wouldn't be surprised. All that being said, I believe that Amazon Studios has a winner with this one. It's not at all that surprising. It's a calculated move for a safe, calculated crowd-pleaser of a movie.