Boasting an inordinately good cast in even relatively minor roles, the series adopts an unexpectedly sympathetic posture toward Holmes, at least in the early going, as she seized on the idea of improving the blood-testing process before dropping out of Stanford to pursue her vision.
Part of that ambition, it’s surmised, stemmed from watching her father’s struggles thanks to working at Enron, although she clearly derived the wrong anything-to-win lesson from that experience.
Completely driven and a relentless saleswoman, Holmes faces all kinds of subtle and not-so-subtle misogyny, such as when she’s told not to look too good if she wants potential financiers to take her seriously.
At the same time, some (including in media) were clearly beguiled by the idea of a young female CEO in this male-dominated, tech-driven environment, never mind the fact that the product she’s peddling won’t do what she keeps telling people that it will — a good idea that she couldn’t make work.
“The Dropout” is populated by a gaudy assortment of big-name actors, including Metcalf, Waterston, William H. Macy, Stephen Fry, Kurtwood Smith, Bill Irwin, and Anne Archer.
Still, Seyfried steals the show, from the youthful version of Holmes to the one who worked at everything related to her carefully crafted image — from choosing her black turtleneck look to the tenor of her voice, rehearsing the delivery in the mirror.
There’s also something stiff and artificial about her personal interactions, a point she makes overtly to her lover and partner Sunny Balwani (“Lost’s” Naveen Andrews), telling him, “I don’t feel things the way other people feel things,” while insisting she cares about him nonetheless.
Even with a high bar for such fare, thanks largely to Seyfried, “The Dropout” gets under your skin, passing the “Should I watch?” test with flying colors.
“The Dropout” premieres March 3 on Hulu.
