Capsule Review: Tech Triple Threat - "Super-Pumped," "The Dropout" and "WeCrashed"

by Christopher James

Which new show about the rise and fall of a major tech company prevails in the end?Do you ever get deja vu while watching a TV or movie? Trends always lag a year or two when it comes to pop culture. More so than ever, the minute a story or documentary takes off, production companies are working on the scripted version of the story. In the course of a month, there will be three separate miniseries dramatizing famous tech flameouts from the last decade. Showtime was the first out the gate with Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, which has already been renewed for season two, centering around Facebook. Next up was Hulu with The Dropout, which cast Amanda Seyfriend as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. By the end of the month, Apple TV+ will premiere WeCrashed, where Oscar winners Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway star as the charismatic couple behind WeWork, Adam and Rebekah Neumann.

It’s easy to make comparisons when so many similar series come out in quick succession. Between the three shows, there’s a clear winner and clear loser. Which is which? Read on to find out...

Oscar winners Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway light up the screen as WeWork founders Adam and Rebekah Neumann.

It can be reductive sometimes to compare art. However, it’s not just the subject matter that binds these three series together. Their style is also quite comparable. Each show starts with the same framing device: a charismatic founder has hit the wall and is answering for their crimes. What have they done? How can things have gone so wrong? Immediately we jump back ten years or more to a time where Uber, WeWork and Theranos were not even an idea. The central problem with this structure is, most people know the answers to those two questions. So many books and documentaries have been made about these founders and companies. If people are well versed in the details, what value can a TV show bring to these stories?

The answer: character. The shows that focus on the arc of these persuasive mavericks, rather than the facts of their struggles, soar. We know what Elizabeth Holmes sounds like, but what was it like to be in a private pitch with her? Adam Neumann made headlines for his unconventional, raunchy moves. Where did that come from and who is he when he goes home at night? 

Thus, WeCrashed is one of the best shows of the year. It marries the salacious details of working at WeWork with expertly drawn visions of the delusionally committed Neumann couple. Jared Leto spruces up his House of Gucci Looney Tunes action for good as Adam, a beguiling figure that confuses and dazzles at the same time. Part snake oil salesman and part visionary, Leto expertly communicates why people would fall for Adam’s charms, while also questioning him too.

While Leto is very good, Anne Hathaway is transcendent as Rebekah, a social climber whose truest intentions often come off as self parody. Hathaway lowers her voice an octave and slows down her speaking cadence, illustrating how Rebekah chooses each word intentionally. This makes her foibles all the more interesting. One of her best episodes comes during a Summer Camp WeWork retreat where Rebekah puts her foot in her mouth around the role of women in the workplace. Both Leto and Hathaway create a very specific chemistry that is hard to match. They volley delusion and neurosis until they crash like an unstable Jenga tower.

Amanda Seyfried gives the performance of her career as Elizabeth Holmes, the besmirched leader of Theranos.Similarly, The Dropout features Amanda Seyfried doing just as committed work as the central figure of the show. Seyfried brings a strange earnestness to Holmes’ ambition. Perhaps this is because we start with her in a college immersion study abroad program, acting as a strict Tracey Flick to all of her classmates. This is where she meets Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews), a mentor who soon becomes her boyfriend. To many, Elizabeth Holmes feels like a strangely confident maverick who seems to exist on her own planet. Yet, Seyfried knows how to ground her by exposing her insecurities, especially in earlier episodes. Watching her psych herself up in her car before a meeting or practicing her now infamous voice in the mirror are key character beats. She didn’t start out a monster, she grew into one. “Move fast and break things,” she excitedly quotes Mark Zuckerberg at one point. We see Elizabeth’s talent get funneled into something ugly. At every moment, she feels like she has to prove herself. Being successful is more important than saving the world with Theranos, she just can’t let everyone know that.

As good as Seyfriend is as Holmes, there’s little else that comes alive with the same level of anxious energy. Particularly, the dynamics of Theranos feel underdeveloped. In WeCrashed, we experience what it must’ve been like to be within the walls of WeWork on a day to day basis. It feels almost dutiful how Super-Pumped handles its famous sexual harrassment case. Still, the show at least finds ways to dramatize the corporate culture of Uber. The Dropout features many compelling performances (Stephen Fry and Elizabeth Marvel are particularly impressive and Laurie Metcalf knows how to nail a line reading), but the world never fully comes alive. It’s hard to create compelling conflict when most of the plot points are nothing new. Seyfriend does an incredible job of charting Holmes’ rise from ambitious, but nervous, newcomer to a confident, idiosyncratic grifter. 

In particular, this is where WeCrashed once again asserts its dominance. Not only does it dramatize the work culture of WeWork, it expands beyond the walls of the office. A key friendship between Rebekah and branding guru Elishia Kennedy (America Ferrera) illustrates how personal and professional lines can be so easily blurred. Of the three shows, WeCrashed is also the only one to fully embrace the sense of humor of the situation. The Neumans are crazy, so why not take the opportunity to laugh at them while also being horrified by the impending crash? Hathaway never misses a beat as she makes each step of Rebekah’s social climbing journey so perfectly memorable. The amount of time Rebekah name drops her cousin, Gwyneth Paltrow, is so high that she should get special thanks in the credits. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt may play Travis' bravado well, but there's little else to his "Super Pumped" character.Finally, Super-Pumped is both too-much and not-enough of anything. Joseph Gordon Levitt has terrific fun reveling in Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s bad behavior. There’s just nothing beyond the surface. The Quentin Tarantino narration recalls The Big Short in all the wrong ways. While Adam McKay’s film does make a point to talk down to the audience, it finds ways to gussy up bald exposition in a way that is digestible. In Super-Pumped, we’re often told things rather than being shown actual drama. The narration becomes a substitute for character and is more of a patch fix for the poor structure of the show, which jumps back and forth in time willy nilly.

Kyle Chandler is always a welcome presence, but is relegated to hitting the same “stern” and “concerned” notes as VC investor Bill Gurley. None of the other supporting characters have enough meat to be consequential compared to Travis’ inner monologue. Uma Thurman is able to cut through the noise with her arch interpretation of Ariana Huffington, but she isn’t revealed until later on in the show. Meanwhile, Elisabeth Shue pops in and out as Travis’ Mom, Bonnie, radiating support and concern, but little else.

So why all these shows, and why now? All three make points similar to this, but the repeated beat spoke volumes rather than seeming repetitive. In fact, so many of them even reference each other. All three companies are name checked, with the ousting of Travis Kalanick informing a plot point in WeCrashed. The early boom of Amazon, Facebook and the visibility of the “tech billionaires” has created copycats. Travis, Elizabeth and Adam all wouldn’t have much to say if trapped in a room with each other like a streaming MCU. However, they all share (and state) their desire to be the next Zuckerburg or the next Bezos. This is the new generation of celebrity and wealth. It’s all about ruthless control and the perception of excess. Some shows communicate it better than others. Still, this quest for wealth and power threads all these character studies together.

GRADES

1. WeCrashed: A-
2. The Dropout: B
3. Super-Pumped: The Battle for Uber: D+

WeCrashed premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, March 18th, with new episodes dropping each week.

The Dropout currently has four episodes streaming on Hulu, with new episodes dropping each Thursday.

Super-Pumped: The Battle for Uber currently has three episodes streaming on Showtime, with new episodes airing every Sunday.

What do you think of these shows? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments

[Michael R]

So excited Hathaway has gotten another great role. It has been far too long.