How much new work would this be doing in tech startups?
At least, movies and TV series depict it as "The Social Network," my favorite movie of 2010, right up to Showtime's new "Super Pump: The Battle for Uber." Inspired visionaries, who have no time for nuances like civilized human behavior, begin a quest to bring their ideas to market. They earn millions, even billions, losing their soul mate, and for nothing, in the way of friends and family.
Pretending these true-life stories probably gives us a glimpse into the humanity of these creators, as well as some background on why they behave the way they do.
The latest in this line is "The Dropout" (★★ out of four), an eight-part series about Elizabeth Holmes now streaming weekly on Hulu.
Amanda Seyfried Stars as Elizabeth Holmes
Holmes founded Theranos and was recently found guilty of lying to the company's investors, which is only a spoiler if you haven't looked at a newsletter or website in the past few years. "The Dropout," based on the ABC News podcast, follows the typical pattern of other tech stories in some respects, but has one big asset in its favor: Amanda Seyfried. She nails the utter mystique – some affecting and others strange – the aura Holmes presents, from her looks to her voice to the frenzied devotion to her work.
And after seven episodes provided for review by Hulu, Holmes still remains a mystery.
The series begins with Holmes' narration, which gives you a great deal of direction and frames some episodes, which otherwise progress through Holmes's life in chronological order.
Her mother (Elizabeth Marvel) is of a passive-aggressive kind who clearly intends to micromanage Elizabeth's life. It really doesn't work. Holmes is inspired from the start - she wants to be a billionaire.
The story of Holmes and his startup, Theranoso
She goes to Stanford, where she manages to enter graduate courses as a freshman. She has no social life - that won't change - but goes to a party and is raped. The school takes no action, and she drops out, though not because of him (or not just because, she says). She convinces her parents to invest her tuition money in the company she is starting, Theranos.
Holmes has hit upon an idea: a machine that would test a patient's blood using a droplet. The idea will go through some changes and the technology certainly will, but it remains the goal. Holmes convinces several people to give him a lot of money; The board includes George Schultz (Sam Waterston), who served as US Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury. Its impact is significant.
His grandson Tyler (Dylan Minnette) will be even more important to the story. He works in the lab in Theranos; She and Erica Cheung (Camry Mi-young Kim) know what investors don't: Namely, technology doesn't work.
Which doesn't stop Theranos from deploying the tests, including several Walgreens stores in Arizona. That real patients received false test results doesn't confuse Holmes. Fortunately, others around him had more discretion, including Tyler Schultz and Cheung.
Naveen Andrews is a jerk as Holmes' romantic partner
In the beginning, Holmes meets Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews), who works with him and becomes his romantic partner. Holmes testified that Balvani tried to control his life by what he ate and wore, and here's some.
But mostly he's just a jerk, which (it's implied and even stated) has to keep someone moving forward with a tech startup. Whether this is true is a matter of debate - one does not expect. But it has a lot going on in Theranos.
Holmes evolves rapidly and eventually becomes completely delusional about technology as he tries to entice investors -- and to keep what he's got. Alan Ruck brings a lot of his goofball "succession" energy to the role of a Walgreens doctor who is desperate to confide in Holmes, as many were.
But Holmes cuts off more people from his life and company, including chemist Ian Gibbons (Stephen Fry, excellent), a move that would prove fatal.
Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reporter John Carrerou (Eban Moss-Bachrach) is on the road to fraud, and at least gives the audience someone to root for.
Executive producer and showrunner Elizabeth Meriweather keeps the science relatively simple. It is Seyfried's performance that is complex, if at times indecent. But perhaps this is an accurate portrayal of Holmes. He is driven to a fault, unable to accept anything but winning. In the midst of so much loss and lies, what leads to victory remains a mystery.