WeCrashed review: Equal parts love story and office drama, with a dash of black comedy

Adam Neumann at a conference in New York in 2015. 'WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork' is inspired by the true story of Adam Neumann and based on the 'WeCrashed' podcast. (Photo: TechCrunch via Wikimedia Commons)

A new Apple TV+ series deep-dives into a dramatized recreation of the rise and fall of Adam Neumann. A self-described serial entrepreneur, Neumann is the co-founder and former CEO of WeWork, which he founded along with Miguel McKelvey in 2010. The company was valued at $47 billion in 2019. But in less than a year its value nosedived. When a proposed IPO exposed chronic financial issues, Neumann and his wife Rebekah were forced to step down and relinquish their shares in the company.

Inspired by the true story of Adam Neumann and based on the podcast WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork, the eight-hour-long, eight-episode series is equal parts love story and contemporary office drama with a shot of black comedy that captures the modern obsession with start-ups, unicorns and the rapid rise of entrepreneurs.

Neumann pitches all kinds of crazy ideas, such as collapsible high-heeled shoes for women. One quick-buck idea is to host a terrace party which is where he meets yoga instructor Rebekah. He stalks her till she finally relents. That’s his modus operandi, to wear down his target. He sees their Achilles Heel and gnaws at it till they cannot resist his elevator pitch.

WeCrashed is the quintessential rise and fall story of a maverick, sometimes described as a magician, a unicorn whose luck ran out, a man and wife propelled by hubris. Before he enters the office, Neumann’s assistant ensures that the volume is turned up to blast Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’. They have drunken Thank God It’s Monday parties. Rebekah and Adam are dismissive of the plaints of female workers. The WeWork office is steeped in testosterone and machismo, with a hint of the scent of Rebekah’s faux spirituality in the air. Rebekah and Neumann glide into their office like rock stars. There’s a telling scene when Neumann inverts the letters WE so they read ME.

When he is seeking funding, he travels to India to make a pitch to the head of Softbank. The start-up event includes a 10-second Bollywood dance routine as part of a presentation – one of the cringe moments in the show.

Jared Leto plays the Israeli founder of the real estate/co-working rage with intensity, running the gamut from desperation to invincibility, tenderness to insolence, infantile behaviour to arrogance, never losing sight of the hustle.

Anne Hathaway inhabits Rebekah, who lives in the shadow of her much more famous cousin Gwyneth Paltrow, as also in Adam’s shadow and as his cliché spewing spiritual guide, helping him manifest his desires and ambitions. ‘You are a supernova,’ Rebekah tells Adam who famously had a penchant for walking barefoot even in public. Both actors immerse themselves into the parts, tonal changes, accents, et al.

Neumann is a man of excesses and so is this show that doesn’t shy away from satire or absurdity, with a unicorn walking through the frames of the opening credits. There is more than delusion here. There is absolute disregard for corporate governance or ethics. Like many other such stories of bursting bubbles, WeCrashed is an interesting snapshot of our times.

Three episodes are now available on Apple TV+. New episodes release weekly on Fridays.