In this story, we meet Liza, who is a single mom and works as a dancer at a strip club. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Pete, a guy who sells medicine. They end up causing a big problem by accident because they want to make quick money.
Review: “Pain Hustlers” Movie
The “Pain Hustlers” movie is the latest in a trend of films that show the bad things pharmaceutical companies do. In the past, we’ve seen shows like “Dopesick” and “Painkiller” that pointed fingers at Purdue Pharma. Now, “Pain Hustlers” exposes the wrongdoings of another drug company, Insys, and their product called Subsys.
The movie is based on a New York Times article that became a book. It tries really hard to be better than other films in this category, but it doesn’t quite make it. The film plays it safe and doesn’t dive deep into the story, so it doesn’t give us the full experience.
One big problem is that the movie doesn’t even say the real name of the company it’s based on. Unlike “Dopesick” and “Painkiller” that openly talked about Purdue Pharma, this film creates a fake company and fake characters. After a while, it just doesn’t connect with the audience anymore.
You might start watching “Pain Hustlers” with high hopes that it will be as good as the other shows, but it disappoints after about 30 minutes. It feels limited and doesn’t offer much.
The story is about Liza, played by Emily Blunt. She lives in her sister’s basement with her daughter Phoebe and her mom. She works at a strip club but wants to make more money. When Pete, played by Chris Evans, offers her a job as a salesperson for a drug company, she takes it. It seems like a quick way to get rich. At first, she struggles, but her creative marketing ideas start making the company a lot of money. However, they later discover that the medicine she’s selling is dangerous.
The one good reason to watch this movie is Emily Blunt’s amazing performance as Liza. She plays a determined mom who will do anything to give her daughter a better life. She goes from struggling to having a fancy apartment, and Emily Blunt’s acting makes this part of the film stand out. On the other hand, Chris Evans seems underused and his character isn’t well-developed. The movie doesn’t tell us much about his background, and it feels like a miscast. Andy Garcia shows up now and then but doesn’t leave a strong impression.
Director David Yates does have a few memorable scenes in the film. For example, when Pete makes up a fake resume for Liza, or when Liza organizes the ‘speaker program’ for a doctor. But these moments are rare. The film’s biggest problem is that it sticks to the basics and doesn’t explore more. It’s hard to figure out the real message the movie wants to send.