J Warner

2.5 stars. It was "meh" overall, ok to see for once, but I probably wouldn't again, unlike Superbad for instance. Jennifer Lawrence was good, but Andrew Barth Feldman/Percy wasn't really funny or interesting, and the plot is too far-fetched. It should've been a nerdy guy more like Christopher Mintz-Plasse/McLovin or Jim Parsons/Sheldon, ie. a bit more charismatic and slightly more believable. Still, good to see a few of these early-2000s style mid-budget comedies still being made, primarily fun and without as much politics crowbarred-in.

It's ok, nothing spectacular, interesting to watch knowing it was released only about a year before social media took off, eg. MySpace and Facebook, so a lot of the plot was nearly outdated in 2002, in terms of the older tech involved. The hotel scenes are rather unconvincing and cheesy, as if two 30 year-olds wouldn't try to fight off 50 year-old Robin Williams.

A bit better item from Hollywood in recent years. This production and the story of Holmes was enough to hold my interest through to the end, but I still skipped through a few bits in the middle. Some of the acting/directing was mediocre/unconvincing. It occasionally seemed more like a silly children's movie, eg. Home Alone or Bean, with F words, particularly ep 4. The chemistry between Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews wasn't that convincing. Some of the performances by the supporting cast were better, eg. Laurie Metcalf, Camryn Mi-Young Kim, LisaGay Hamilton and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. As usual, they go into a bit of the identity politics/virtue signaling, but it doesn't completely take over the story, and it's balanced with a bit more wisdom from Laurie Metcalf/Phyllis Gardner and LisaGay Hamilton/Judith Baker, a couple of examples of more sensible leaders than Elizabeth Holmes they include in the series. They could've cut out a bit of the identity politics and focused some more on Elizabeth's behavior/sociopathy, and other people being impacted by it. Eg. that scene where she insults the Apple store worker was a bit cut-off at the end, same with the cancer patient scene. And they could've added a few more minutes of the actual downfall of Holmes and Theranos in Ep 8. I liked the general comedy-drama tone of the series, similar to The Social Network. I don't like drama-drama as much. But it could've been a bit grittier/more honest. The Dropout seemed too peachy about Holmes' behavior and the fallout from it.

I've never liked this identity politics/woke stuff, particularly this professional victim industry. People who don't become doctors or engineers or contribute to society in some way, but do their best to try to undermine society, while selling books and complaining on TV/social media day in day out, with little idea how things actually function day-to-day outside. Identity politics is the dumbest form of politics, an adult version of kids fighting in a playground.

Disappointing. Not as funny or thrilling as suggested in the trailer. Uneven throughout the series. About half the time it was ok/funnier. The rest of the time there were these annoying tacky gimmicks and sidetracks. Episodes 4 and 8 were a bit more solid. I skipped through most of Episode 7. I know they were trying to be creative/experimental with Ep 7, but Theo's constant expressionless face was too boring, and the no dialogue with the tinkly piano music got annoying after 5 min. Selena Gomez only seemed to be switched on/somewhat funny about 40% of the time. Her dramatic scenes were too boring also. Even Aubrey Plaza has a bit more charisma when doing deadpan, and can do dramatic scenes, eg. Child's Play, might've been a good alternative. Keyla Monterroso Mejia (from Curb recently) could also be a good teammate with the older Martins, but probably not as famous a drawcard as Selena. The Ep 10 finale was kind of amusing, but the trio still don't have the same level of chemistry as eg. Jerry, George and Elaine from Seinfeld.