‘Inventing Anna’ Review: SoHo Scam, Long Told


The serial scam that made Anna Sorokin aka Anna Delvey famous, Published in New York magazine In May 2018, she succeeded because of what she didn’t have.

Despite the extensive reporting by its author, Jessica Pressler, the most striking thing about it was a sense of obscurity. The portrayal of the habits of some mercenary New Yorkers was vivid, but their feelings and motivations remained mostly hidden; readers are left to draw their own conclusions about the roots of Sorokin’s brutal financial manipulations and the shocking naivete of his many victims. The piece was airy on the surface, but it had a fundamental excess or brutality—an inhumanity that gave it an electric charge.

The article blew up to the extent that it was picked by one of television’s top actresses, Shonda Rhimes, and turned into a dramatized mini-series “Inventing Anna,” the first show Rhimes created as part of her deal with Netflix. “Mini” is a misnomer: It contains nine episodes (Friday premiere) that total over nine hours.

And that time commitment, our expectations for a high-profile Netflix drama, and Rhimes’ preferred genre – loud melodrama mixed with mystery and a dash of social satire – a lot of new things had to be thrown in. Among them, there is also a story arc to make. traditional episodic drama coming out of a casserole possible and chaotic eventsas well as some new, perhaps invented plot elements to add humor and suspense.

There are also some lessons that are not mentioned but are hard to miss because you’ve seen them so many times before: Everyone is using each other, especially journalists and lawyers; a swindler succeeds by making signs the way he wants them to be; The look of flattery and wealth will get you everywhere, or at least painfully close.

If you’re getting the idea that these additions aren’t for the better, you’re right. Pressler’s article was like a speeding car, an exciting journey that kept your heart rate up until you fell off the cliff. “Inventing Anna” is a long, cocky ride without GPS. All of Pressler’s most colorful anecdotes and gruesome details have been compressed, sometimes fine-tuned to better fit a now-fictional narrative. But the excitement is gone.

The elongated, densely-filled “Inventing Anna” works as a cliché morality tale, but as a piece of storytelling it stumbles badly—more inventions and events means less coherence and less coherent characterization.

The primary structural idea is the introduction of a magazine journalist, clearly intended to be Pressler, but named Vivian Kent (and played by Anna Chlumsky of “Veep”). Although Pressler is the executive producer of the series, it’s one of the few name changes between the main characters. It makes sense when you see Vivian in action: putting pressure on the newly infamous Anna (Julia Garner of “Ozark”) from making a plea deal because it would hurt the article; threatening to publish the name of a source in order to force them to speak; allowing other authors to do research for it.

The meaty and more familiar parts of Anna’s story — passing on as a German heiress, robbing Tony hotels, cheekily exploiting narcissistic masters and star-struck working women — are told in flashbacks, as Vivian’s article reports. In the present times of the show, plots unfold, which may or may not have a real-life basis. (My knowledge of the case is largely limited to the original article.)

Vivian is pregnant and struggles to complete the piece before giving birth. He is assisted by three ostracized elderly writers who have embraced the piece as their own and seem to devote all their time to it. Vivian will also atone for a professional scandal that tarnished her career, a subplot directly linked to Pressler’s life. (One of the New York magazines in 2014 article He told a young stock genius whose story turns out to be a hoax.) On the show, Vivian blames a shrewd male editor.

This reflects another of the show’s lessons about the barriers to women’s success: both Anna and Vivian are at war with patriarchy, whether they come in the form of dumb bankers and lawyers or starchy newsroom executives. Rhimes wants us to see Anna as both a sociopath and a victim, in a balance that remains obscure but turns the series’ tone emotionally in later episodes.

Garner has the enviable duty of sympathy for Anna, despite the swindler’s often harsh and impulsive behavior; it touches during the character’s moments of fragility, but the grating European accent and the flat effect he uses in general doesn’t offer us much. Chlumsky is technically good but can’t find a way to make Vivian very attractive; The role, which tends to anger and panic, does not capitalize on his satirical comedic talent.

Some performers do better in smaller roles, such as Alexis Floyd as a hotel attendant and Anthony Edwards as a lawyer, both dedicated to Anna. Best of all, and the show’s only consistent delight, is the veteran comic trio of Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Anna Deavere Smith as veteran reporters who come to Vivian’s aid.

Episodes of “Discovering Anna” open with a device borrowed from “Fargo”: “This whole story is completely real. Except for all the pieces that are completely made.” The parts that have been invented take Anna Sorokin from a disturbing mystery to a place we can identify with and begin to sympathize with. It’s too bad it has a characterizing effect, it gets less interesting in direct proportion to how recognizable and traditionally human it is.



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