SWIPED: 2 STARS. “Lacking drama this is as standard as biopics get.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Swiped,” a new biopic starring Lily James and now streaming on Disney+, Whitney Wolfe uses intelligence and tenacity to navigate the sexist world of the male-dominated tech industry on her way to becoming the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.
CAST: Lily James, Dan Stevens, Myha’la, Jackson White, Ben Schnetzer, Pierson Fodé, Clea Duvall, Pedro Correa, Ian Colletti, Coral Peña. Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg.
REVIEW: The biopic “Swiped,” the story of tech visionary Whitney Wolfe (Lily James), who founded the online dating platform Bumble, swipes left when it comes to aspiring to being anything other than a Wikipedia page come to life on screen.
As formulaic as its subject is innovative, “Swiped” begins with Wolfe struggling to get a foot in the door of the tech industry. Before she was voted one of the “50 Women Who Are Changing the World” she as an aspiring tech guru whose big break came after a chance encounter with dating app entrepreneur Sean Rad (Ben Schnetzer).
Her input on the launch of dating app Tinder—she created the name and ignited interest for the app on college campuses—vaults her into the company’s executive suite and a relationship with company co-founder Justin Mateen (Jackson White).
When their relationship goes sideways, she leaves the company she helped make successful amid lawsuits and allegations of sexual harassment.
Leaving the misogyny of Tinder behind, she creates Bumble, a dating app that rights the wrongs of the Tinder experience and will eventually make her the world’s youngest female billionaire.
Lily James, who also produces, is fine in the lead role as an in-control woman who will not be overlooked by the men in her work life. She’s let down, however, by a paint-by-numbers script that touches on hot button topics like sexism and misogyny in the tech industry and the superficial nature of hook-up culture. Both are lobbed into the story mix but only in the most superficial of ways. What is meant to be a story of empowerment, innovation and resilience gets overshadowed by the film’s eagerness to inspire.
Lacking the drama of “The Social Network” or “Steve Jobs,” other films that have tread similar ground, “Swiped” is as standard as biopics get.
