The Dropout has interesting source material, as it's based on the true scamming story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (played impeccably by Amanda Seyfried) — but the dramatization fails to bring anything new to the familiar story.
Given the rise of scammer series like Inventing Anna, WeCrashed, Tinder Swindler and now The Dropout, one naturally compares how the different shows bring to life a true story while sustaining the audience interest because many already know the gist of it. While Inventing Anna was a fun series with moments heightened dramatically for effect, The Dropout feels a little draining.
The show takes us back to when Elizabeth was a teenager to prove she always had drive and ambition. When visiting a wealthy family friend, Richard Fuisz (William H. Macy), a physician and self-professed inventor, Elizabeth tells him blatantly: "I want to be a billionaire. First step is Stanford, and then I'm going to graduate, and I plan on inventing a product and start a company."
Thus begins her journey into Stanford, which she leaves abruptly to start Theranos, a tech company that promises to perform a wide range of medical tests with just a single drop of blood. We also see that, on a Mandarin immersion trip to China, she meets and bonds with Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani (Naveen Andrews), a tech entrepreneur almost two decades older than her. He guides her and supports her vision until she goes off the rails.
In her quest for success, she loses sight of all ethics and morality. Over a decade, she successfully manages to build Theranos to a valuation of $9 billion, despite not having a viable product, conning the Silicon Valley power players.
The show has one main thing going for it: an impeccable characterization of Elizabeth Holmes, a determined, ambitious woman trying to make her way in a man's world. Amanda Seyfried humanizes her and empathizes with her. While we do root for her at times, the show eventually highlights her faults — after all, she was found guilty on four counts of defrauding investors.
However, the series feels too long, and drags. The first few episodes feels like quite a mission to watch. It's the lack of tension and pace — perhaps because the other aforementioned scammer shows are fresh in viewers' minds — that reduces its impact.
While Seyfried turns in one of her best performances to date, as does Andrews, and the series does have entertainment value, it requires effort and solid commitment to watch — especially as the episodes roll out weekly. It might be better to watch once all the episodes drop on Disney+ to best take advantage of The Dropout's interesting story.
(Disney)Given the rise of scammer series like Inventing Anna, WeCrashed, Tinder Swindler and now The Dropout, one naturally compares how the different shows bring to life a true story while sustaining the audience interest because many already know the gist of it. While Inventing Anna was a fun series with moments heightened dramatically for effect, The Dropout feels a little draining.
The show takes us back to when Elizabeth was a teenager to prove she always had drive and ambition. When visiting a wealthy family friend, Richard Fuisz (William H. Macy), a physician and self-professed inventor, Elizabeth tells him blatantly: "I want to be a billionaire. First step is Stanford, and then I'm going to graduate, and I plan on inventing a product and start a company."
Thus begins her journey into Stanford, which she leaves abruptly to start Theranos, a tech company that promises to perform a wide range of medical tests with just a single drop of blood. We also see that, on a Mandarin immersion trip to China, she meets and bonds with Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani (Naveen Andrews), a tech entrepreneur almost two decades older than her. He guides her and supports her vision until she goes off the rails.
In her quest for success, she loses sight of all ethics and morality. Over a decade, she successfully manages to build Theranos to a valuation of $9 billion, despite not having a viable product, conning the Silicon Valley power players.
The show has one main thing going for it: an impeccable characterization of Elizabeth Holmes, a determined, ambitious woman trying to make her way in a man's world. Amanda Seyfried humanizes her and empathizes with her. While we do root for her at times, the show eventually highlights her faults — after all, she was found guilty on four counts of defrauding investors.
However, the series feels too long, and drags. The first few episodes feels like quite a mission to watch. It's the lack of tension and pace — perhaps because the other aforementioned scammer shows are fresh in viewers' minds — that reduces its impact.
While Seyfried turns in one of her best performances to date, as does Andrews, and the series does have entertainment value, it requires effort and solid commitment to watch — especially as the episodes roll out weekly. It might be better to watch once all the episodes drop on Disney+ to best take advantage of The Dropout's interesting story.
