Dopesick

HULU | Release Date: October 13, 2021

7.9	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Ratings

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KurschOct 17, 2021

Had high hopes, but even the excellent Michael Keaton cannot save this boilerplate melodrama that has all the nuance and subtle complexity of a ten megaton bomb. Viewers looking for another "Wire" will be sorely disappointed, DopesickHad high hopes, but even the excellent Michael Keaton cannot save this boilerplate melodrama that has all the nuance and subtle complexity of a ten megaton bomb. Viewers looking for another "Wire" will be sorely disappointed, Dopesick settles for depressing schmaltz, hammering home repeatedly about the evils of Purdue.

As a side note, when making dramas that are "based on a true story", actors should be picked that accurately reflect the ethnicity of the place and time period. For example, if there was a movie about Japanese samurai taking place during the Kamakura period during the 12th century, I would be put off if a bunch of white guys showed up in samurai armor.

Dopesick is guilty of altering the ethnicity and gender of characters for the sack of diversity. Female coal miners? Ok...wait there is also a black female lesbian coal miner? Ok.... Now we discover the white federal prosecutor from VA who moved to Appalachia has a black wife and bi-racial children - in 2002. Since the kids seem to be about ten, that would have meant that he ands wife met and fell in love in the late 80's. I grew up in Virginia. Bi-racial couples are uncommon in VA today, but in the 80's and 90's virtually unheard of, at least between white men and black women. It did happen (the Loving's for example) but it was rare, and such discrepancies are off-putting because they pull me out of the illusion the show is attempting to create.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

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Mauro_LanariJan 18, 2022

(Mauro Lanari)
Why a non-linear narrative? Perhaps to distinguish it from "Traffic" (Soderbergh 2000), from the 4th and final excellent season of "Goliath", from the extraordinary "Kill the Messenger" directed in 2014 by the same Michael(Mauro Lanari)
Why a non-linear narrative? Perhaps to distinguish it from "Traffic" (Soderbergh 2000), from the 4th and final excellent season of "Goliath", from the extraordinary "Kill the Messenger" directed in 2014 by the same Michael Cuesta who signed the 3rd and 4th episode of this "Dopesick"? Just to say that on the subject there were already illustrious precedents, but all affected by the similar flaw: the apology of quixoticism, the idea that it is better to win battles by losing the war rather than the opposite. A television miniseries that therefore exalts the "beautiful losers": better than nothing or not? If humans survive only by taking some kind of drug, there must be an explanation.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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smartinvestor30Dec 17, 2021

I haven't seen something this poorly written or acted in a while. It does check off all the social justice boxes for diversity and inclusion but that's all it's got going for it. Some scenes are good and the dialogue feels like it was writtenI haven't seen something this poorly written or acted in a while. It does check off all the social justice boxes for diversity and inclusion but that's all it's got going for it. Some scenes are good and the dialogue feels like it was written by a competent person who is humans. Some scenes feel really out of place and the dialogue is so badly written it makes you want wish you were never alive. This is why I don't watch any original programming on Hulu or any of these services. It's so low budget that you are rarely going to get a hit. But that's the point they just want content to say they have content. They don't care if it's good. None of the characters are interesting.… Expand

1 of 5 users found this helpful14

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joelgreenbergMar 7, 2022

Dopesick began very well for me - after the first three episodes I was hooked. And to be hooked by a story whose ending I already knew was very attractive. However, the full eight episodes are probably two more than necessary, so entangledDopesick began very well for me - after the first three episodes I was hooked. And to be hooked by a story whose ending I already knew was very attractive. However, the full eight episodes are probably two more than necessary, so entangled does the plotting get with the secondary plots of Betsy and her family - this is not a criticism of any performances, but the actual writing/plotting feels weighed down by the writers' desire to cover every base. And the time jumps, indicated by a scrolling timeline, don't help. By the final episode, I was exhausted trying to grasp where we were, when we were present, past, long past, who was the focus of each scene, etc. But it is watchable and binge-worthy -- I watched the full series with a minor break for snacks.… Expand