We’ve seen countless stories about the corrupt medical industry in the United States, particularly in regard to the opioid epidemic. Pushing drugs meant to help with pain, pharmaceutical reps get money for their sales and line the pockets of doctors with gifts, trips, and more to help push their drugs over others. Meanwhile, actual patient wellness never seems to be a concern for either party. What Pain Hustlers aims to do is poke at this with a Wolf of Wall Street-esque tone of madness and while it isn’t a perfect film, it is an interesting look at the pharma rep pipeline that has taken over the medical field.
Liza (Emily Blunt) is a single mother who is just trying to get out of her sister’s garage when she meets Pete (Chris Evans). He promises her a 6 figure job if she comes to work for him and the rest is seemingly history. They lie about her resume and soon enough, the two start to push a drug to doctors in Florida that is supposed to help with pain management in cancer patients. What Pain Hustlers sells us is the same thing that every movie with the same backing does: Pharmaceutical reps get greedy, push too hard, get in trouble with the law.
But at least David Yates as fun with the story that he is telling, as dark as it may be. We see the depravity of these characters, particularly men like Pete, for how they act when their backs are against the wall. Pete would rather have money than humanity and while Liza teeters between her greed and her (former) humanity, Pain Hustlers uses her daughter Phoebe (Chloe Coleman) to anchor her.
Florida is always a wild time
While not exactly changing the game, the movie does what it sets out to do: It highlights how the pharmaceutical industry is broken. It’s not about getting medicine to people. It’s about making money for the reps and the company. Pain Hustlers has its shining moments, like Chris Evans rapping while dressed up as pain meds, but it is overall just a brief look into this one particular story of Liza and her journey as a mother trying to make a better life for her daughter.
What works for Pain Hustlers above other movies like it comes from the framing device of a “documentary.” Set up like a half-baked I, Tonya, with the cast of characters talking about what happened, the angle pays off when the “director” breaks the fourth wall at the end of the movie. It really hits like a documentary would and does work as a framing device.
Overall, the movie is genuinely a good watch. Filled with strong performances from Evans, Blunt, and a nice turn from Brian d’Arcy James, Pain Hustlers isn’t reinventing anything but is still well worth the watch.
(featured image: Netflix)
