This engaged me and enraged me. These men are evil, awful people. The documentary itself is well-done for the most part. It really benefits from the trove of wiretap recordings. Without them it would have been hard to tell a convincing story. The brothers are unspeakably bad. The interviews with the father are hard to watch. Obviously these boys were raised to be criminals. The father seems proud of their juvenile criminal records and his ability to get them off without consequences because of his money and influence as a well-known contractor. The ending is the hardest part to watch, with Chris getting out of prison 7 years early and looking forward to starting a new business. He blames addicts for their addiction, thinks their deaths are funny, and advises them to take personal responsibility. It's enraging but strangely engaging. Thank heavens for my mother, who warned me at an early age to stay away from guys who look like that.
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marthacrone4 July 2023
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cindyrellaexists24 June 2023It's a well edited movie. Can't help but feel majorly annoyed with the jovial happy attitude the biological father had during his interviews. All of these people are such bottom feeders. Is it something in the water over in Florida? This film exposed so much about the sociopathic origins of these two brothers. How they behaved isn't unique to them, but the fact that the drug manufacturers perpetuated their large unnecessary distribution is the crime catalyst. It's just disgusting how desperate people are for these drugs. It's a reflection of the downwards spiral of humanity. Here's hoping these pharmaceutical companies get shut down.
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As "American Pain" (2022 release; 106 min.) opens, we hear from Chris George, caught on tape saying he fears he'll get arrested soon. A voice--over reminds us that Chris and Jeff George put more opioid pills on the street than anyone else. We then go back to their early upbringing in privileged Wellington, FL... At this point we are less than 10 minutes into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest from Emmy Award winning producer-director Darren Foster ("Science Fair"). Here he looks at how twins Chris and Jeff George brazenly and blatantly exploited a weakly regulated drug industry. Of course they are not the only ones who set up pill mills. But its ilk like that who certainly played more than their part to unleash one of the largest and deadliest health emergencies this country has ever seen, and STILL is dealing with. That the George Brothers thrived in Florida should not surprise you, as state regulation of this industry was in those days (late 00's and early 10's) one of the weakest in the country. And then people are shocked, SHOCKED I tells ya, that things like this can happen. For shame. The documentary flies by in no time, as you watch and you wonder why nobody stepped in until it was too late (and even then...). Comments someone: "Big Pharma, doctors, drugstores, patients, pill mills, everyone knew what they were doing and all turned a blind eye". Turns out that some eyes perhaps are a little more blind than others. (The documentary also exposes Chris George as a white supremacist, Oh, are you surprised?)
"American Pain" premiered at last years Tribeca Film Festival to immediate critical acclaim. It is rated 88% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It aired on CNN earlier this year and then started streaming on Max, where I caught it last night. If you have any interest in understanding how a national health emergency originates when everyone turns a blind eye because there is crazy money to be made, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion. -
mbloflin-987918 June 2023I don't think there is one likeable character except the cops in this film. It's about two brothers that use the lack of oversight in Florida to run "pill mills" which were basically fast food restaurants but instead of burgers you get oxycodone and xanax. In the early 2000's I lived in N. C. and had a pill mill in Florida that sent me pain pills every month. It was wide open back then. Thankfully I got out of that life but it really sucked when they Feds cracked down and the pills stopped coming. I "kicked the covers" for a day or two and got over it. I have always been in good shape(I realize I was taxing my liver) so my withdrawals were probably better than most people's. Luckily I didn't do what many did and turn to the street for heroin. Now those people, if they are still alive, have turned to fentanyl. It's great that the people in this film got locked up, but there are criminals that worked for these drug manufacturing companies that need to do TIME. There are some companies that have paid fines, but none of their employees were charged. They knew exactly what was going one. That's about it for the film. It's well-made so if you are interested in the subject enjoy!
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Rjay-5005913 June 2023I thought I knew everything about the opioid epidemic from the Sackler family to the pill mills to the devastating effects of addiction on families and entire communities. What I didn't know was the massive role played by the 2 Florida brothers featured in this documentary. A well constructed film that tells it like it was back in the late 2000's. The filmmakers connect the dots giving you the entire picture of how their clinics infected the entire country adding fuel to an already burning fire of drug abuse. Great care is given to explaining how they operated within the rules but bent them beyond what any reasonable society or jurisdiction should have tolerated. All parties are represented from patients, family, and dealers to law enforcement who fought an uphill battle to shut them down. An eye opening film that will both disgust and enlighten you on how far people will go for the almighty dollar while having no conscience for the damage they inflict.
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What is it with Broward County Florida? This place is constantly in the news for some kind of belligerent behavior..
Seems like a pretty fun place to be though. Sun, opioids, strip clubs, beaches, babes, etc..
As for the documentary.. Pretty solid, definitely worth the watch. The whole pain clinic thing is wild to me, seems like it shouldn't have ever been legal in the first place (but maybe I'm just missing something?)..
Good cast of "characters", I mean that is what they are in this really!
Because I have to hit the required amount of characters, I just want to mention I was the first to rate (and review)! -
billsoccer16 February 2023Very interesting documentary about some of the major players in the oxycodone scandals of the late 2000s. We are introduced to twin brothers Chris and Jeff George, who were constantly bailed out of trouble by their father, while they were growing up. The father at the end simply shrugs his hands and wonders why they turned out that way!
The brothers concoct a scheme for pain management systems, in which people could come in and with little to no checks and balances, they receive an enormous amount of pills, including oxycodone. With ta wink to CYA (cover your ass), the doctors prescribe pills in a matter of minutes. This, of course led to people from states 1000 or more miles away driving there to obtain the pills which soon were sold on the black market.
Eventually, the businesses started crumbling as the feds got interested. It was very interesting watching how little remorse there was on anyone's part. Excuses such as 'we're just little people, they need to go after big Pharma', 'I didn't make these people do what they did I just ran a business'. And of course there is a small amount of truth in that as big Pharma was allowed to ignore the millions of pills being sold out of these outlets until that couldn't even be hid anymore.
Of course, the withdrawal of the oxycodone Market led to people doing fentanyl and heroin and that scourge. And the people responsible are mostly out of jail and continuing their will healed lives. -
ops-5253510 June 2023,for some its a relief from hell(of excrutiating medical diagnose pain) ( IT SEEMS LIKE THEY NEVER MAKE DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT THAT!) ( the ones that have gotten real life quality back ) and for some its the way to pleasuredome and in worst case scenario heaven( the real addicted ones), the usa opioid epidemics, in this case unfolding in the 2010's southern floridas pain clinics.
An opioid cowboy documentary of a huge deluge of caliber, the simple way for criminals to bend and avoid rules to make money on others behalf, an almost too good to be true documentary for us overcontrolled and overregulated citizens of norway + the european union( praise the heavens for that).
A historical document on everything that could go wrong beacame wrong. A huge recommend from the grumpy old man. -
dayna-0765624 February 2023On the surface this seems like an interesting documentary, HOWEVER, about 20 mins in you get the distinct feeling the film makers are not so much interested in the devastation the opioid crisis caused as they are about pumping up the main "character"- avowed white supremacist Chris George. If you can stomach the disrespect and get to the end, you'll get to see a nice 10 min snippet about a completely unremorseful Chris starting new businesses after leaving prison. Clueless filmmaking at its worst, wish I could give it zero stars. I really really hope that they didn't completely throw their journalistic values in the garbage by paying that criminal for the rights to tell this garbage story of nepotism covered in white privilege.
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I would not call it a rise and fall since they all are still breathing and not dead in a ditch like most of their "patients" They destroyed pain management for patients who legitimately need medication.
I would not call it a rise and fall since they all are still breathing and not dead in a ditch like most of their "patients" They destroyed pain management for patients who legitimately need medication.
I would not call it a rise and fall since they all are still breathing and not dead in a ditch like most of their "patients" They destroyed pain management for patients who legitimately need medication.