‘The Social Network’ clicks with top film critics

NEW YORK - The National Society of Film Critics on Saturday selected “The Social Network” as the best picture of 2010.

The fictional look at the creation of Facebook dominated at the society’s annual awards, which were voted on by 46 prominent movie critics gathered at a Manhattan restaurant.

Jesse Eisenberg was named best actor for his role as Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the social networking Web site. David Fincher won for best director and Aaron Sorkin for best screenplay.

The critics reached overseas for the best actress honor, naming Italian star Giovanna Mezzogiorno for her role in “Vincere.” The film follows the rise to power of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, with him abandoning his wife and child along the way. Supporting actor awards went to Geoffrey Rush for “The King’s Speech” and Olivia Williams for “The Ghost Writer.”

The society, founded in 1966, is composed of 61 film critics from across the country, including Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan, The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Morgenstern and David Denby of The New Yorker.

While these critics’ choices rarely reflect top honors at the Academy Awards, the New York-based society helps draw attention to new films in advance of the Oscars, staged in late February by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Among foreign language films, “Carlos” - French director Olivier Assayas’s 5.5-hour-look at the life of the global terrorist dubbed “Carlos the Jackal” - was voted best.

AP