“The Social Network” reviews

Still, it’s Eisenberg’s picture. The young actor’s nebbishy persona found a consummate vessel in the role of Mark, and his bone-dry sarcasm lends almost every moment a tetchy, unpredictable comic energy. A shifty-eyed creep whose motives can’t be reduced to a simple yearning for fame and fortune, Mark may be an “asshole,” as he’s called throughout, but as Eisenberg beautifully displays in his rare tongue-tied moments, he’s not entirely without conscience.

Played as a petulant and socially maladroit genius in an award-worthy performance by Jesse Eisenberg, Zuckerberg fudges ethics while building an empire [...]

It has a Best Actor performance in Jesse Eisenberg’s turn as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. He’s playing a certain kind of intellectually remote monster — an incandescent asshole with brains — and yet a semblance of humanity seeps out of his pores.

Eisenberg’s performance in The Social Network is on another level.  He literally becomes Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  While some actors might hesitate to portray someone that’s an asshole most of the time, Eisenberg seems to relish the opportunity.

Jesse Eisenberg, whose anchored, skilfully navigated portrayal of an incredibly complex individual will hopefully not be a thankless contribution to the fall movie season.

Eisenberg, recently stuck playing the nebbish, nervous weakling elsewhere, is stronger and more captivating here than we’ve ever seen him. There’s more than a film here; there’s a comment.