The opioid crisis in America is a multifaceted issue, one that requires continuous discourse and discovery and action with the hope of bringing big pharma (that profit off of the literal lives of others) into the light and (someday) to justice. With such a controversial but ubiquitous epidemic, it should come as no surprise that Hollywood has sought to create as many renditions and interpretations of it as possible. Some are direct indictments like “Dope Sick” or “Pain Killer,” some are a rally cry for action and change like “All The Beauty and the Bloodshed,” and others still take a more subtle approach by using it as a catalyst for supernatural horror and comeuppance like “The Fall of House of Usher.” The world of big pharma remains a well of stories for Hollywood, most of which are executed well enough to continue to shed light on the subject and tell stories that should be told often.
With so many great interpretations of the topic to choose from, “Pain Hustlers” was high on my list heading into TIFF. On cast and subject matter alone, it was one of the first films I made sure I had tickets for and was excited to be at the premiere. How could Blunt, Evans, Garcia and drugs go wrong? Unfortunately, it became one of the biggest letdowns of the festival, and in hindsight seems like a misguided attempt from the jump. This film is a warning the well of opioid stories may be running dry.
Of all the films and series dealing with big pharma, “Pain Hustlers” may very well be the weakest to date. And that’s with powerhouses like Emily Blunt and Chris Evans at the forefront, so you know the film is really struggling when even they can’t elevate it into something more interesting. Rather than trying to do anything unique, it is a diet “Wolf of Wall Street” with a splash of sugar free “Big Short.” It wears its inspiration on its sleeve to little effect, and never works hard enough to have a voice or commentary of its own.
Directed by David Yates (“Harry Potter,” “Fantastic Beasts” series) from a script by first time screenplay writer Wells Tower, “Pain Hustlers” is based on the Evan Hughes’ New York Times Magazine article, “The Pain Hustlers” from May 2, 2018 and his subsequent book “The Hard Sell.” It follows Liza Drake (Blunt) a down on her luck dancer at a strip club in Florida who meets Pete Brenner (Evans) who subsequently offers her a job at a failing pharmaceutical company. With a knack for reading people and a nothing to lose attitude, she manages to turn the company around with her savoy (and often times shady) sales skills to make more money than she could even dream. But of course, pill pushing comes with a price, and she soon discovers that not only has she been roped into a huge criminal conspiracy, but her work turns out to have deadly consequences. The Film stars Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Andy Garcia, Jay Duplass, and Catherine O’Hara.
By all accounts, “Pain Hustlers” should have all the makings of a bombastic, stylized, entertaining look at the pharmaceutical sales world with a scathing critique of capitalism and American healthcare as it core themes. Instead, it only scratches the surface of interest across the board, approaching the entirety of its narrative at arms length and choosing to unfold as something borrowed instead of actually engaging with its subject matter. The cast is given very little, and the film exacerbates their weaknesses rather than highlights their strengths. A muted version of other films that explore wealth and excess and the rise and fall of the quick buck.
Blunt and Evans are wildly miscast despite having strong chemistry, attempting regional accents that come and go and eventually outright disappear half way through. Even Catherine O’Hara is dialed down and stifled, unable to add some much needed humor in this humorless endeavor. Sure, opioid addiction is no laughing matter, but neither is wall street fraud or the housing crash of 2008. Two topics portrayed in other films that clearly inspired “Pain Hustlers” with both managing to be as entertaining as they are critical of their subject.
Yates simply doesn’t have the skill to learn the right lessons from the films he clearly wants to emulate, and in turns leads this to be a vapid affair with nothing to say about a crisis screaming for more examination. It all comes off as punctuated recreations of scenes Yates seemed to enjoy but only understands the style and not the substance. And for all its style, “Pain Hustlers” is too jumbled to ever really dive deeper into the excess it wants desperately to portray. It is constantly hindered by its framing devices of formalism and faux documentary, and never lets any of the things it wants to portray or comment on shine or breath or even speak. It becomes a frustrating and disappointing viewing experience, largely because lands almost directly in the middle of the spectrum. It’s not so terrible it can’t be viewed all the way through, but it also isn’t good enough to even be remembered. It just falls short across the board, instantly lowering expectations and not delivering on anything something like this should.
I’m sure it’ll do just fine on Netflix, but “Pain Hustlers” is the kind of film you stream at home and gradually start looking at your phone more and more the longer it plays in the background. It’ll probably crack the top 10 for the weekend, and very shortly after be forgotten entirely. The film lacks any kind of staying power, which is a shame considering the films it wants to be and is clearly inspired by continue to leave their mark.
It may be time to prescribe a break from opioid crisis stories to Hollywood. This is a collection of recycled ideas executed poorly, and it may be time to follow the pharmacist’s instructions: take 3 years off and call me in the morning.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
“Pain Hustlers” is available to stream on Netflix starting Oct 27th. You can watch the trailer below.
