Pain Hustlers

To the doctor on my deathbed and to the pharmacy not even for vitamin C... A decent Netflix movie filmed at an unexpected Wolf of Wall Street pace about the rise of a start-up pharmaceutical company and how market greed kills. The acting trio of Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Andy Garcia revels in every scene, but it's Blunt who takes her complicated motivations that elevates Pain Hustlers a notch higher. Captain America, on the other hand, is unexpectedly understated, though handles very well the asshole salesman role who knows that's just the way things works. A nice surprise, especially for routine artist David Yates, who needed redemption after the wizards. (02.11.2023)

The influence of The Wolf of Wall Street persists. Pain Hustlers is another story about business success based on an actual event that was not entirely legal. Emily Blunt is nice to look at in her lovely costumes and Andy Garcia is likable as the billionaire boss. However, the film deals in formulas and the directing lacks a creative signature. And though it’s not boring, its value lies only in the explanation of how the pharmaceutical business works, from production to bribing doctors, who otherwise wouldn’t prescribe the medications. It’s a matter of greed and selfishness that destroy patients’ lives. Emily Blunt’s character is the only one that shows any remorse or regret. And that’s all there is. (28.10.2023)

I like these films, but it lacked more drive, a fiercer pace and better situational humour. Wall Street and Dumb Money are maybe a level or two up, but Pain Hustlers still has its bright moments. It terms of plot it follows a familiar template and goes sadly without surprises. Emily Blunt gets lucky with an interesting job and starts making some decent money, but a person can only on top for a while and classically things start to fall apart again and you kind of wait for it to end. There are a few deaf spots, unfortunately, but the insight into the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry was good. The trial turned out interesting and surprising to me and Emily Blunt stole it nicely for herself. 65%. (31.10.2023)