Friday, September 15, 2023

TIFF 23: PAIN HUSTLERS


 Pain Hustlers. What You Are About To See Is Inspired By A True Story. 

"Throw the first stone. Sure. But this is my story, and I did it for the right reasons." says Liza Drake (Emily Blunt) as the film begins. 

We meet Liza aka Destiny as a performer in a gentleman's club. She randomly meets Pete Brenner (Chris Evans)  She sizes him up. He informs the audience that Liza had a real gift at reading people and forty-five minutes later you were out two grand. Pete pleads with Liza to come work for him.

Destiny gets a phone call she has to go to school where her kids are acting up and setting a fire. Liza has even more problems on the home front. Her sister kicks her out of the house. She takes her kids and checks into a motel. Liza's life is falling apart. Her new neighbors gift her kids a juice a quilt and Liza a pair of earplugs. "Does it get noisy around here?" "Yeah" Motel transient noise, not very conducive for sleeping 

Late in the night Liza says out loud to herself"I will not give up on myself. I will not give up on my dreams. I will make my life count." The next morning she calls Pete about the employment offer he mentioned the other day.

Pete is a salesman. He is selling Lonafen a fentanyl medication.  Liza shows up to Pete's office. He grills her on her resume. He then asks for a Word file of it and then changes the entire resume.  Pete then introduces her to Zanna Therapeutics C.E.O. Dr. Neel (Andy Garcia). Liza gets the job.  

Liza is now tasked with "Invent a Doctor" which means she has to get one Doctor to prescribe the drug, write one script. She is now off to the races. Time to hustle. 

Pain Hustlers is a commentary on the for profit health care industry as well as the lengths companies and individuals in those companies will go to make money. A lot of money. Their gains are societies loss.

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