'Inventing Anna' review: Shonda Rhimes' Netflix series is a compelling story but lacks focus

There’s so much going on in “Inventing Anna,” so many balls in the air, so many leads to run down and stories to tell, that it’s hard to fit them all in.

Yet if there was ever a nine-episode series that cried out to be a two-hour movie, “Inventing Anna” is it.

How’s that for a contradiction?

It’s about focus, and in Netflix's new drama (now streaming; ★★ ? out of four), that’s a hit-and-miss concept. The series, created by Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy") and based on Jessica Pressler’s New York magazine story “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People,” has a lot of moving parts, a lot of people to keep up with — nearly all of them loathsome.

Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin (even the origin of her adopted name is murky), pretended to be a German heiress while living in luxury hotels, hosting dinners in gourmet restaurants, “borrowing” a private jet and letting her friends pick up the tab while dropping $100 tips like raindrops. There was always a wire transfer on the way that never materialized.

Her goal, she claims, is to set up the Anna Delvey Foundation, a super-exclusive private arts club.

Set visit: Julia Garner on playing a likable sociopath in Shonda Rhimes' new Netflix series 'Inventing Anna'

'Inventing Anna' suffers from the classic problem: no one to root for

It’s quite a story. But the series suffers from the classic problem of not having anyone to root for. Delvey, played by Julia Garner, so great in “Ozark” and a two-time Emmy winner, comes off as selfish, self-centered and delusional. Or she’s a misunderstood put-upon genius whom no one will take seriously because she’s a young woman.

The story doesn’t really work as the latter; the facts suggest that Delvey conned too many people and too many financial institutions for that. That she was convicted in 2019 of theft of services, attempted grand larceny and grand larceny doesn’t really help her case.

Of note: Garner's accent is truly an otherworldly mix of various eastern European elements.

The series is notable because it’s the first super-producer Rhimes created for Netflix as part of her deal at the streaming giant and the first she’s created since “Scandal” in 2012. (She served as executive producer on “Bridgerton.”)

You can see the appeal. The story is splashy, gossipy. It involves influencers, rich people, journalism ethics (at one point Anna uses the term “fake news” to shoot down a story she doesn’t like) and other juicy topics.

But the series is at its best when it delves into the lives of the people Anna rips off. She remains such an elusive presence, and such a uniquely unpleasant one, that it’s hard to invest in caring what becomes of her. Granted, that elusiveness is an essential part of her scheme. Maybe it helped when trying to convince banks to lend her millions.

As TV, it’s less effective.

The story is told through the eyes of Vivian (Anna Chlumsky), a reporter for Manhattan magazine, the series’ version of Pressler and New York magazine. The newsroom is depicted as a back-biting clown show. Vivian got caught up in a story that turned out not to be true a few years back (as did Pressler) and has been banished to “Scriberia,” the corner of the office where editors send aging reporters to die, no matter how accomplished.

The other inhabitants (Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Anna Deavere Smith), become both mentors and a kind of Greek chorus for Vivian, offering her advice and viewers occasional exposition.

Vivian is pregnant, which shortens the time frame she has to complete the story.

If this is how New York magazine really works, they'd never get stories out

She’s also fighting against the bad judgment of her editor, Paul (Tim Guinee), a former friend who played a role in the erroneous story. Maybe this is how the New York Magazine newsroom really works. If it is, it’s amazing they ever get any stories out.

Vivian makes several visits to Rikers Island, where Anna is being held awaiting trial. Anna offers information in condescending dribs and drabs that isn’t reliable. But it gives Vivian a place to start, and some people to talk to.

And that’s the best part of the series. Anthony Edwards is believably hoodwinked as a bored bank representative Anna wins over. Also good are Laverne Cox as a life coach and trainer, and Katie Lowes as Rachel, portrayed as a vapid Anna wannabe who ends up tens of thousands of dollars in debt. (The real Rachel, Rachel DeLoache Williams, wrote a book about her experience.)

Anna’s most complex relationship is with Neff (Alexis Floyd), a concierge at one of the hotels where Anna stayed. Which is to say it’s complex from Neff’s side. From Anna’s side, everyone’s a mark.

Neff ends up serving as Anna’s de facto personal secretary from the hotel desk. The lure of the $100 tips is strong for the aspiring filmmaker, as are the dinners with famous people.

There are nods to the power of social media, the influence of media, the curdling of the American dream and more. But it’s too much that adds to too little. There is a compelling story to tell here, but “Inventing Anna” isn’t it.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Inventing Anna,' on Netflix, features a great cast but lacks focus