Maya Rudolph is a partying billionaire in Apple’s ‘Loot’: review

Maya Rudolph stars in the new Apple TV+ comedy series “Loot,” about a billionaire entering a new chapter in her life after a painful divorce.

And, for the most part, it’s a slick and entertaining ride. 

Premiering June 24, the series, created by Matt Hubbard (“30 Rock”) and Alan Yang (“Master of None”), revolves around Molly Novak (Rudolph), who’s celebrating her 45th birthday with her husband John (Adam Scott) — who throws her a lavish party and gifts her a new yacht with multiple pools (she suggests using the smallest pool for her dogs, Mary Kate and Ashley). 

When Molly discovers that John has been cheating on her with a younger woman, they divorce – and since they didn’t have a prenup, Molly is now one of the wealthiest women in the country. Newly single, she parties it up and becomes tabloid fodder for antics including falling into a pool at a party and giving a waiter a lap dance (in her defense, she thought he was Sting). 

She’s surprised to learn that she has a charitable foundation, led by the intimidating Sofia (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, “Pose”), who is not happy that Molly’s post-divorce spiral is generating bad press. Molly’s involvement with Sofia and the charity leads her to a new phase of her life as she learns to give back to others and achieve a better sense of self. All the while, her devoted assistant Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster, “Fire Island”) is by her side, along with Sofia’s colleagues: nerdy single-dad accountant Arthur (Nat Faxon, “Ben and Kate”) and Molly’s cheerful cousin Howard (Ron Funches). 

Trying to get the audience to sympathize with a woman who has everything is a tough needle to thread but “Loot” does it well — albeit with some fumbles.

Rudolph infuses Molly with a mixture of flighty attitude and genuine vulnerability. It helps, too, that the show doesn’t take itself too seriously. After Molly gives an exasperated Sofia a long and heartfelt speech about how she’s still finding herself — to which Sofia replies, “I’m sorry, I don’t really care about any of that” — Molly frowns and says, “When I said that to Oprah, she gave me one of the biggest hugs of my life.” But some of the “billionaires aren’t relatable humor” feels too obvious; in one scene, Molly delivers a tone-deaf speech to a homeless shelter. “Home is where my wine fridge is,” she says. “I’ve personally never been unhoused, but there was one summer where they were doing construction on our New York home and I had to stay at the Plaza.” 

There’s also plenty of topical humor. When Howard tells Molly that Black Twitter has her back, Arthur pipes up, “White Facebook does too. Sorry, that makes it sound like I’m in white supremacist groups. My aunt does send me some stuff that’s very troubling … you know what, I’m going to cut it off there.”

“Loot” isn’t breaking any new ground by joking about how billionaires are out of touch, but its winsome cast and slick plot make it an engaging comedy. Rudolph sells it like a pro and makes Molly fun to watch — even when the show’s jokes feel like low-hanging fruit.