“Dopesick”: A greedy company makes everyone sick

“Dopesick”
A greedy corporation makes everyone sick

How dangerous are supposedly tried and tested painkillers and did the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma negligently jeopardize the health of its patients in the course of its pursuit of profit in the 1990s? The new four-part miniseries “Dopesick”, which starts on Friday (November 12th) on the Disney + streaming service, is dedicated to these questions. Inspired by the successful non-fiction book “Dopesick: How Doctors and the Pharmaceutical Industry Make Us Addicted” (2018) by journalist Beth Macy, the creators reconstructed the story of the US fight with opioid addiction. With success: In addition to shocking insights, “Dopesick” offers several brilliant performances by well-known actors – above all Golden Globe winner Michael Keaton (70, “Birdman”).

The United States and Painkill Addiction – An Ongoing Drama

In 1995 the Purdue Pharma group launched the analgesic OxyContin on the US market. Thanks to an allegedly extremely low probability of developing addiction, the drug mutated – also with the help of the Food and Drug Administration – FDA over a few years to become one of the top-selling drug products in the world. Later, Purdue and OxyContin were increasingly associated with the rampant opioid epidemic in the US and their advertising strategies and machinations were investigated in the background. By 2020, over 450,000 people had died from abuse of opioids, the majority of whom were previously legally prescribed pain medication by doctors. Purdue Pharma is bankrupt today and the opioid crisis continues.

The first scenes of “Dopesick” (the term describes the withdrawal symptoms when using painkillers) begin at the end of the plot, in a courtroom against Purdue Pharma. Family doctor Dr. Samuel Finnix (Michael Keaton), who years earlier initially believed in the benefits of the novel pain reliever and prescribed OxyContin to people in his hometown. He soon discovered, however, that he was allowing himself to be made an accomplice with the help of ambitious young pharmaceutical salesman Billy Cutler (Will Poulter, 28), who inadvertently paved the way for his patients – mainly hard-working miners – to become addicted.

Tension persists despite leaps in time, characters generate disgust and compassion

The makers of the four-part drama, including Keaton himself in his role as executive producer, do not anticipate the end right from the start. Instead, the plot jumps back and forth between different points in time. It almost seems as if the viewer should put together a kind of puzzle, which in the end draws a stringent overall picture. Keaton and screenwriter Danny Strong (42) must have been aware that this approach carries the risk of causing confusion in the audience.

Nevertheless, they went their own way – and the plan works out. On the one hand, this is due to the perfectly put together plot elements, which, despite the leaps in time, spin a common thread and keep the tension. On the other hand, thanks to the brilliantly portrayed character traits of its protagonists, “Dopesick” arouses both disgust and compassion. There is, for example, the nefarious Purdue boss and power man Richard Sackler, who absolutely wants to bring his drug onto the German market and who is not satisfied with the rejection declaration “Germans do not believe in opioids, they believe that suffering is part of healing”. His outstanding embodiment by Michael Stuhlbarg (53) almost makes the viewer shudder.

Will Poulter’s game also gives space to the selfishness of pharmaceutical salesman Billy Cutler, but does not ignore the fact that the young Purdue employee himself was unscrupulously trained to convince doctors. True to the motto “Whatever it takes to gain your trust”, petrol tanks are refilled for free, tickets for Disney World are given away and weekends are paid for with supposed specialist lectures.

Michael Keaton delivers a brilliant performance as a sensitive but naive provincial doctor

But “Dopesick” doesn’t just make leaps in time. The miniseries also switches back and forth between locations, including the boardroom of pharmaceutical giant Purdue, the office of the US drug law enforcement agency, and a small mining community in rural Virginia. The focus is primarily on the everyday heroes who courageously take the undignified profiteers of the crisis and their allies to their breasts. Above all, Dr. Finnix, in whose role Michael Keaton, who himself lost a nephew to an opioid overdose, delivers one of his best performances – which is sure to attract attention at upcoming awards ceremonies. At times accompanied by melancholy country music by genre virtuoso Johnny Cash (1932-2003), the “Birdman” star mimes the sensitive small town doctor who, as a widower, devotes himself entirely to his community, with impressive authenticity. Here the doctor is still a pastor and friend at the same time. At the same time, the naivety of the aging doctor becomes clear, which drives him all too naive into the circle of doctors who prescribe OxyContin.

In addition to Keaton, Poulter and Stuhlbarg, Peter Sarsgaard (50) and Rosario Dawson (42) can also be seen in leading roles. They all made sure that “Dopesick” became a real series highlight. Just like the 24-year-old Kaitlyn Dever, who, as life-torn miner Betsy Mallum, slipped into addiction at an early age. “Dopesick” is so good that – if it were purely about the entertainment value – the call for a sequel should be loud immediately. Unfortunately, the story behind it is true and still claims numerous lives every year – which is why we can only hope that the miniseries will help solve the problem.

SpotOnNews