Film Review – Pain Hustlers

Director David Yates received the career boost of a lifetime when he was selected to guide the last four movies in the “Harry Potter” saga, bringing darkness and depth to the franchise as it matured with its audience. His work outside of the series has been greatly disappointing, failing to show the same storytelling confidence as before, including a return to J.K. Rowling land with the instantly forgettable “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” features. “Pain Hustlers” is Yates’s effort to move past wizard woes, with the British director turning his attention to the American pharmaceutical market, joining screenwriter Wells Tower (adapting a book by Evan Hughes) on this study of the rise of the fentanyl market and the corrupt business practices of those profiting from the misery of others. It’s an important tale to tell, but Yates doesn’t have an original take, reheating “The Wolf of Wall Street” to connect the dots in this scattered study of unbridled greed and dubious morality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com