Apparently rating the hotness of Harvard undergrads requires a complicated algorithm.

This mathematical equation, scrawled on the window of a Harvard dorm room, provided the basis of the whole operation that began the creation of Facebook.

This scene, like so many others in the intriguing movie Social Network, made me shake my head in wonder.

In the film,  talented computer programmer (and nerd) Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and his dashing and slightly more popular (to Mark’s intense envy) business partner and best friend, Eduardo Saveran (Andrew Garfield) experience considerable obstacles, successes, and partying as they invent, develop and begin to market Facebook at Harvard, their college. By the end of the process, business is booming, but the movie doesn’t end on a happy note. Mark has made millions of dollars and dozens of enemies, including Eduardo.

However, as engrossing as the interpersonal ties and backstory of Facebook were to me in the movie, what really blew my mind was the intelligence of the characters.

Line after line of dialogue has Mark explaining to the audience exactly how he is hacking into Harvard’s network. He is unimpressed by his own skill as he uncovers layer after layer of digital protection, narrating every move. Of course, the audience understands nothing. Mark is cool as a cucumber.

Eduardo rattles off facts and figures with the unerring precision of an economic major.

Students at Harvard discuss psychology, theology, science, and economics over dinner, while my friends and I talk about Glee.

Yes, these are Harvard students. We know they are extremely intelligent and academic.

Yes, it is crucial to the story that Zuckerberg and Saveran are capable, savvy individuals. Otherwise, the events of the film wouldn’t have been possible.

However, I feel as though in this intense show of acadamia, Social Network made a fatal flaw.

Watching these extraordinary minds run around, invent and make each other miserable, I felt far removed from the events of the film.

Most good movies engross the viewers, surrounding them in a fictional world.

However, Social Network ‘s formidable characters didn’t invite sympathy or interest. Their sarcastic intelligence and the way in which they displayed it repelled me from them and from the film as a whole.

Social Network is a good movie; however, you won’t feel a part of the story. You’re just an average Joe along for the ride.