Well, I really, really liked
The Social Network and am not at all disappointed that it was the first movie I've ever purchased sight-unseen.
Now that I've seen it, I can see the element of the gal who rejected him was played up for emotional touchstone and bookends effect that I didn't get from simply hearing about the funny pre-credits scene. In that sense, oddly, I am fine with its emotional content being fictionalized.
In going back over the Time Person of the Year piece, I see that Zuckerberg does not deny ever being dumped by this girl. Only that he met the real love interest of his life, Priscilla Chan, before that. And so the thing with Erica and his feelings toward her throughout the film were likely made up for dramatic purposes. Oh well.
But I
am interested in knowing how much of the story I enjoyed on film reflects what actually happened to characters I came to care about or loathe. From what I can glean, the script was careful to follow the testimony in the two lawsuits that form the structural backbone of the movie - and so I'm satisfied the film's events and characters bear an acceptable resemblance to fact for a "true story" movie.
And I found the 3 main characters really came to life for me, a testament to the script and the performances by Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield (whoa, hot stuff) and Justin Timberlake (surprisingly).
Dunno if I would have voted this Best Picture, since I haven't seen
The King's Speech Yet ... and, heheh, much as I liked it, don't think it was better than
Toy Story 3. 