Director: David Yates
Writers: Wells Tower and Evan Hughes
Stars: Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Catherine O’Hara
Synopsis: Liza dreams of a better life for herself and her daughter. Hired to work for a bankrupt pharmaceutical company, Liza skyrockets with sales and into the high life, putting her in the middle of a federal criminal conspiracy.
Everything about Pain Hustlers is too cute, simple, and straightforward for such a complex story. Based on actual events, director David Yates brings a peacock-colored comic strip depth to a film that should punch you in the mouth, take no prisoners, and ask forgiveness later. Instead, the script is hackneyed, the characters are cookie-cutter, and the empathy built into the final act is saccharine. The result is a The Wolf of Wall Street wannabe without the conviction.
Emily Blunt plays Liza Drake, a single mom making ends meet as a stripper because her ex-husband is a deadbeat. To make matters worse, her daughter Phoebe (Chloe Coleman) suffers seizures, and Liza cannot afford the treatment. So, a couple of pole and lap dances later, she meets Pete Brenner (Chris Evans), who drunkenly offers her a job in his marketing department.
Brenner is a hustler and sees a little bit of himself in Liza. They are both at rock bottom, as Peter’s drug company is about to close its doors. They both have nothing to lose. However, he knows doctors don’t want a PhD telling them how medications work. They want some eye candy, attention, and a little flirtation to stroke their egos. So he falsified her resume. Since Dr. Neel (Andy Garcia) won’t be able to look past her legs, she’s hired immediately.
Written by Wells Towe and Evan Hughes, this is their first produced script, and it shows. Almost every character lacks a three-dimensional quality. Meanwhile, any depth only runs skin deep. Case in point: the writers use Spotlight’s Brian d’Arcy James, a fine character actor, to show the arc of greed. However, the arc is only cosmetic, as if the role of Dr. Lydell’s upgrade to nicer clothes and hair plugs is a substitute for watching the deterioration of someone’s soul.
The fact of the matter is that this is a very small supporting role. If anything, Blunt’s Drake should be that representation. However, as soon as Garcia’s Neel begins to unravel—something the movie doesn’t explain and seems to be a way to be solely quirky—she wants out. The film covers the fact that the script pretends Liza is oblivious to the issues the drug causes. It’s a simple phenomenon that drug peddlers don’t want to know what’s happening with the product they’re selling as long as it’s in demand.
Also, the Chris Klein (who is in need of a career overhaul) character is poorly drawn and underwritten. The role is inflated to support a big name. If anything, the filmmakers should have drawn more of a connection between the characters. And no, I am not saying it romantically. I admire the fact that there is no romance between them. However, they underplay the friendship angle. This would have benefited a third act when loyal friends must protect themselves. Instead, the moment rings false.
What Pain Hustlers does well, albeit incredibly briefly, so you’ll need to pay attention, is a breakdown of how pharmaceutical companies manipulate the system. And after Hulu’s Dopesick and a year where Netflix featured a limited series, Pain Killer (and a documentary on the same subject), the film gets it right.
You monitor doctors in small towns and pay them to make your drug the painkiller of choice. The physician writes the script based on the company and FDA recommendations. The company reports a protocol that economically enhances its bottom line but puts patients at risk. Finally, the company leaves everything to the physician and then claims ignorance.
Yet, the lack of details and depth is covered up by an attempt at homage to an excessive and hedonistic approach to sales. The team hires down-on-their-luck reps with flexible morals—there’s even a scene where I thought Klein and Blunt might begin to thump their chests in a tribal scene of gluttony.
That makes Pain Hustlers a trope and unoriginal. It is not so much an homage but a knockoff of better films and series that have come before it. It’s all flash with false promises, little substance, and harmful for you.
Like the product the film is based on.
