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The Crime of the Century Image

The Crime of the Century

84
Season
Metascore
7 reviews
7.3
Season
User Score
9 ratings
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Network: HBO
Season Details: The two-part documentary directed by Alex Gibney is an expose of the origins and enabling of the
The two-part documentary directed by Alex Gibney is an expose of the origins and enabling of the opioid epidemic featuring exclusive interviews of whistleblowers and victims as well as leaked documents.
Seasons: 1
Genre(s): Movie/Mini-Series Health & Lifestyle Documentary
Show Type: Mini-Series
Season 1 premiere date: May 10, 2021
Network: HBO
Air Time: 12:00 AM

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(7)
Season Metascore Universal acclaim
7 Positive Ratings 100%
0 Mixed Ratings 0%
0 Negative Ratings 0%
90
"An evisceration of Big Pharma. ... With a level-headedness that makes its takedown all the more effective, Gibney’s film shines a spotlight on the evolution of Purdue and company’s treacherous conduct." ... Read full review
90
Meghan O'Keefe | May 6, 2021
"Searing. ... Because Gibney is committed to showing the full scope of opioid-related sin, it’s hard to hang our anger on one singular party. Gibney’s most popular past documentaries left us understanding who the villains were and who the victims were. The lines get blurred when it comes to the opioid crisis in part because there are so many at fault and so many who have gotten hurt." ... Read full review
90
Owen Gleiberman | May 3, 2021
"Alex Gibney’s shattering two-part, four-hour HBO documentary “The Crime of the Century” makes devastatingly clear, the opioid crisis is more than a human tragedy that has claimed half a million lives. It’s part of what America has become. " ... Read full review
90
John Anderson | May 10, 2021
"The cinema is as exhilarating as the journalism is exhaustive. Still, the style remains in service to the story. ... The opioid story in general isn’t new, but a lot of what Mr. Gibney offers is." ... Read full review
83
Saloni Gajjar | May 7, 2021
"The documentary presents a data overload, but one that is still a statistical overview as opposed to a more in-depth look at the ramifications of the people who suffered. The Crime Of The Century isn’t able to paint a complete picture, but it’s still a powerful and edifying watch." ... Read full review
75
"While the documentary has so much to share, it doesn't have the poignancy or poetry that helps such informed calls for attention to truly resonate." ... Read full review
70
Dan Fienberg | May 10, 2021
"There are original documents and revelations here, but they aren’t always presented in a way that lets you know what’s new and notable about them. ... The Crime of the Century is good instead of great." ... Read full review
(2)
Season User Score Generally favorable reviews
7 Positive Ratings 77%
1 Mixed Ratings 11%
1 Negative Ratings 11%
10
CelloAfoxx
Jul 28, 2021
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This documentary was so eye opening. Living in southwest virginia i have watched this happen first hand. It's not far fetched. Expand
4
coastda
Jun 1, 2021
Gibney is an excellent film-maker but he treads exactly the same places as virtually every other documentarian and gladly accepts every tropeGibney is an excellent film-maker but he treads exactly the same places as virtually every other documentarian and gladly accepts every trope handed to him on a platter.
Never mind that America has suffered waves of problems with opiates, post Civil War, then allowing drugs like heroin to be sold via catalogues until 1914. Then the huge problems as the Vietnam War dragged on. Nixon's "War on Drugs" which ended decades ago, was predicated on that wave of addiction in the early 1970s. But everyone wants their era to be THE era.

By demonizing the Sackler family for taking advantage of a medical community willing to prescribe strong narcotics for minor pain, this doubtless resulted in problems, but that kind of prescribing went on for barely 10 years. By 2010 doctors were scaling back, and the vast majority of opiates are now illegal fentanyl analogues. But the Sackers are no more guilty than the Ford family for car wrecks, or any number of American billionaires who made a killing off their product.

The "burn the witch" mentality which drives museums to chisel the Sackler name off of hospitals to which they generously donated is absurd.

To quote "experts" like Dr. Andrew Kolodny, who operates numerous clinics (for profit) and has accepted large sums consulting for rival drug-makers will likely appear as silly in 50 years as documentaries accusing homosexuals of nearly forfeiting America to the Commies.
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