Painkiller

After having watched DopeSick (Michael Keaton) and Crime of the Century, this is weak drivel. These aforementioned series really got the message home and taught you about opoid addiction. Painkiller just rides the wave of morbid interest in this subject but is watered down, the narration does not enhance the story but kills any dramatic effect. Also it is late to the table. The characters are weak at best and the storyline and plot is now old. It also strikes me as almost a subdued copy of Dopesick.

How about a follow-up ... on Mundi Pharma and Knoa Pharmaceuticals? Purdue is spreading its evil worldwide.

It's a good story, that needs to be told, and for a B film, it was told well. Sure it's predictable, but the opioid and vigilante genres haven't been crossed that much, so it was a good watch. The decent pacing and 85 min runtime made it flow nicely, even if you knew what was coming up. The cinematography and shots were great, as was the score, but the performances for the most part were lackluster, but I feel it was from director Mark Savage failing to direct his cast properly.

What a horrible mess.

Based on Barry Meier's book Painkiller and Patrick Keefe's Empire of pain, this movie gets just about everything wrong. Addiction. Greed. The Sacklers. How they lit the fire of the epidemic.

Worse, they throw in new peripheral characters to move the story.

This movie misses the point on how the Sacklers operated.

Matthew Broderick is wasted. He played capo Richard Sackler as a fool. He could have easily played the real guy.

My daughter's a prosecutor. I'm an addictions medical professional. Netflix, you're a disgusting mess. Not any coincidence all your show runners and directors look so much alike, is it?

They don't show a single person shooting up. WTF is this, kindergarten?

So much filler added, so many facts removed. Netflix should be required to remake this accurately.

You take something that is very real, and then you walk around Tampa during off the off season; looking for people bored and nothing to do. You offer them a hundred bucks and a bottle of pills for their "acting performance." That's how this movie is best summed up.

You'd think someone losing someone would make someone quite hurt. I know, I'm an orphan having watched both parents died. I get more emotionally invested in old commercials than the people playing their parts. Everyone "acting" in this piece is clearly on some downers. Guess the directors didn't specify they'd have to wait and only do their hard earned reward after their scenes were wrapped. Everyone of the "actors" are glassy eyed and almost ready to fall asleep mid sentence.

It's very high and mighty because it does have the moral "high" ground. I was tricked when I bought this. The rating on here was higher then, and I didn't verify with reviews. Only put 5 on it; rather have used that for whatever they are taking.

I also love how specific they are about some things, then they go wildly vague. I'd love to know what this guy did to make his money. He wouldn't tell us, but he used the same two six shooters, and the same outfit to carry out his hits. I live for Hitman, so his sloppy way of taking people out blows my mind. Rolling thru neighborhoods and jet skiing thru lakes dressed like he got his idea from the Payday games. The dude who designed his wicked hard opiod for heart patience has a really sweet trailer. Makes me wonder if that was the directors house. It's legit the nicest looking place in the film. This includes the rich people. It's like a really classy place that Julian thought he was getting from Mr Lahey.

OK, so the dude goes to see the doctor that called into main characters podcast. The doctor knew his name, and yet, when the protagonist shows up in the doctor's office the next day, and he was clueless. I maybe high, but they are Major Tom, man.

The story and message are good. To prepare you for what you're going to see think "what if kirk Cameron made a movie about killing those responsible for the opiod crisis?". Or if there was a vigilante movie made by the hallmark channel. There were times where I thought perhaps this was made by those who made "Fireproof" or "the Love Dare", or maybe it's Christian based... then outcomes a heavy set drug dealer having sex with a elderly prostitute.

Overall, the plot is what you would expect from a vigilante film. The message is correct, especially for the times. I found myself 40 minutes into it and with that kind of investment I decided to see it through and it only got more predictable. You'll witness actors both simultaneously over and under act in the backdrop of what they try to make out to be a major city, but is most likely a town of 1,000 people. If you enjoy the videos they make you want during orientation of a retail job, then you're gonna love this movie. If you want a movie with a good plot and don't care how it's delivered, you're gonna love this movie. If you're looking for the next Oscar winner, you're not going to love this movie.