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Pain Hustlers is based on Evan Hughes’ article in the New York Times Magazine, and The Hard Sell, the book that was inspired by it. While the film boasts of some fine acting, its narrative fails to add anything fresh or original to the genre. It unfolds predictably as we’re introduced to a central character worthy of getting behind.
Down-on-her-luck single mother, Liza Drake (Emily Blunt), is up against the wall. Flat broke, with a teenage daughter to provide for, all she needs is a chance. She may lack educational qualifications but is very quick on the uptake. Her street smarts are on display when she first meets medical representative Pete Brenner (Chris Evans) at the strip club in which she performs. At first, a mildly inebriated Pete is in no mood to engage but a small wager is put forth by the former. If she can guess his profession (from his general get-up), she wins $10. Impressed with her powers of deduction, he hands her his business card and tells her to call if she’s interested in a job at a pharmaceutical start-up. All these qualities manage to give us a character to empathise with and root for. As she stares at the ceiling late at night (after being asked to vacate her sister’s place), she says, “I will make my life count”, over and over again. You want things to work out for her.
Despite a predictable storyline, there’s something in the earnestness of Emily Blunt’s performance that fits seamlessly into Liza Drake and her dreams of a better existence. If you happen to watch this film, watch it only for Blunt and her commitment to character. Because the rest is too commonplace to glean novelty from.
Pete Brenner takes Liza on board Zanna Therapeutics even though she has no PhD or basic training in the pharmaceutical sector. She has reservations when the former rewrites her CV (lying blatantly about her college degree and experience) and pushes her case to eccentric founder, Dr. Jack Neel, but it’s a desperate time for her. She has little choice but to go along with it. As a medical sales representative, her job is to market the company’s pain drug, Lonafen. A reputed medical study states that the medication is highly effective in treating terminally ill cancer patients, with minimal side-effects and a response time of only five minutes. The unfortunate part is that doctors aren’t prescribing the drug, going instead with a pharma giant whose medication isn’t anywhere near as effective. Liza joins the company at a time when they are on the verge of bankruptcy. If doctors don’t start recommending Lonafen to patients soon, Zanna will go bust.
The premise is set up in such a way that you know how things are going to pan out. All films with hustling and scheming begin with a problem that is converted into an opportunity. There must also be just that bit of luck involved. As far as success goes, the need to bend the rules and overlook the grey areas are a given. When you’re speaking of the pharmaceutical sector, there’s the added moral burden of human lives to contend with.
Liza’s conscience appears pricked from the very beginning. She knows that sick cancer patients receiving Lonafen are benefitting from their doctor’s prescriptions. That is how she justifies the speaker programmes the company sets up to lure doctors into pushing the new medication. This battle between her survival and righteous self, though watchable, is too cliché. She complains of feeling the same from inside (despite being rich, successful and recognised) as she did when she had no options. The guilt, that is witnessed in her eyes throughout, is a dead give-away. You, the audience, can guess exactly what she’s going to do in the end. What she truly craves for is respect for doing things in a certain way, for being an upstanding person.
To set itself apart, the writing in this crime drama ought to have kept things more suspenseful. I am sure the makers took some liberties with the characters and events, so why not make the inner workings less predictable? Both major and minor characters are sketched well. The actors play the parts fittingly assigned to them too. The small relationships that unfold – Liza and her daughter, Liza and her mother, for instance – are nuanced and sensitive. The plot, however, abounds with genre cliches, leading to the film’s eventual undoing. Pain Hustlers introduces a likeable central character, one we can invest in, but it is the overall story that lets her down. A promising start that fails to follow through.
Director – David Yates
Cast – Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Catherine O’Hara, Andy García, Chloe Coleman, Jay Duplass, Brian d’Arcy James
Streaming On – Netflix
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
(This story originally appeared on Cinema Express)
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