REVIEW: Emily Blunt Carries Netflix’s ‘Pain Hustlers’
Inspired by the article, “The Pain Hustlers,” by journalist Evan Hughes, Netflix’s new film, Pain Hustlers finds single mother, Liz Drake (Emily Blunt), selling anything and everything to provide for her daughter (Chloe Chloeman). Now working as a stripper, trying to make ends meet, it is here where she meets the skeezy pharmaceutical rep Pete (Chris Evans) who offers her the chance of the lifetime. Come convince doctors to write prescriptions for his fentanyl spray for cancer patients and she could be set for life. Of course, Liz takes Pete up on the offer and the movie plays out from here just as you would expect. The drug is not all it claims to be and Liz finds herself questioning if she is doing the right thing.
Directed by David Yates and written by Wells Tower, the story is extremely predictable. Over the last few years there have been a number of movies, and television series about the opioid epidemic and the drug companies that helped push these drugs. Yates and Tower try to create something different with their take by telling the story in a mockumentary setup. However, the setup doesn’t exactly pay off as they story ends exactly how expect it to. The only real bright side to this story is Blunt’s performance.
Blunt’s performance is what keeps the audience engaged in the story and sets it apart from the other opioid entities. Liz can go from a smooth, fast-talking sales rep to a falling apart, woman in trouble at the drop of a hat and Blunt navigates the multiple personalities with ease. She carries this movie on her shoulders and does it as if it weighs nothing. But it is her scenes with Coleman that were my favorite. The mother/daughter chemistry these two created for this movie truly felt like the two had known each other for years.
Unfortunately, because of Blunt’s performance, no one else compares. Evans, Catherine O’Hara (Jackie Drake), and Andy Garcia (Jack Neel) characters all take a backseat to Blunt’s Liz. It would have been nice to see a little bit more from Garcia as watching him bring to life the unhinged Neel for the brief moments he did were fantastic. But this just shows what an actor like Garcia can do when he is given very little to work with. The same can be said for O’Hara’s Jackie.
Emily Blunt is the reason you tune into this movie, and she’s the reason you stay tuned in until the end. But Blunt herself may not be enough to draw everyone in. Thankfully, the movie is streaming on Netflix, so if you have nothing to do over the next couple of weeks, it may be a movie you want to check out.
Grade: C+