Still, at first glance, he was a puzzling choice to co-direct this film, as was Oppenheim, who calls himself a “docu-fantasist.” The two men met at some point, became friends, and wanted to work on a project together; Holmes and current partner Billy Evans were Fielder fans. Thus, You Can See Everything was born.
Who’s playing who?
WARNING: Spoilers begin here.
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Fielder and Holmes engage in a stare-down contest
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Holmes reacts to watching the fictionalized version of her rise and fall: the Hulu series The Dropout.
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Fielder and Holmes engage in a stare-down contest
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Holmes reacts to watching the fictionalized version of her rise and fall: the Hulu series The Dropout.
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Fielder and Oppenheim don’t spend much time rehashing the Theranos debacle and Holmes’ subsequent trial and conviction, which is fine; that has been covered exhaustively elsewhere, including the Gibney documentary, and it’s not what they were interested in capturing. They’re more keen on the vibes than the facts. Holmes and Evans invited Fielder and the film crew to stay with them for the 34 days before her imprisonment, and given the strangeness of their initial interactions, Fielder became a major on-camera presence in the film.
The first half of the film is on the dull side, featuring lots of footage of Fielder and Holmes staring at each other, unblinking, in an attempt to convince each other of their sincerity. (Jimmy Fallon and Jamie Lee Curtis hilariously spoofed this dynamic in a cold open for The Tonight Show.) There is a tiresome segment quibbling over the relative meanings of the words “can” and “could.” Another segment dissects whether or not Holmes is capable of understanding the humor behind the classic “Who’s on First” sketch.
Fielder’s deadpan comedic style is used to good effect. Any laughs in that first half come from his reaction shots, such as his expression when Holmes insists, blue eyes extra wide, that she has never once lied in her entire life. And it’s just innately funny seeing him pop up again and again at the edges of the frame, like an awkwardly diffident stalker.
Much has been made of the scene where Evans insists Fielder film him working out at the gym—including a post-workout shower scene with Evans faux-nonchalantly displaying side-frontal nudity. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before; HBO flashes its viewers all the time. Still, I can never unsee Evans’ flaccid junk, so thanks for that image being burned into my retinas, guys. But it fits the sleight-of-hand theme Fielder and Oppenheimer develop throughout the film. On the one hand, we are literally seeing everything. On the other, it is only the illusion of transparency, because Evans is so relentlessly squirrely and evasive—when not outright combative—about answering Fielder’s questions.
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