The Big Picture
- Michael Stuhlbarg’s portrayal of Richard Sackler in Dopesick is genuinely unsettling and captures the character’s nature.
- Matthew Broderick’s performance in Painkiller is miscast and cartoonish, failing to convey the seriousness of the OxyContin crisis.
- Dopesick benefits from a more consistent and haunting tone, while Painkiller opts for a glib and garish approach that doesn’t serve Broderick well.
There have been a number of inevitable comparisons that have going on between the new Netflix limited series Painkiller and Hulu’s Dopesick, which was released in 2021. Both series tackle the exact same subject of the opioid crisis and use many of the same players that were involved in the story of corporate greed and betrayal that led to one of the most deadly epidemics in American history. The most notable comparison would have to be between the two performers who played Richard Sackler, who was the chairman and president at Purdue Pharmaceuticals, which was best known for its development of OxyContin. In the Hulu version, acclaimed character actor Michael Stuhlbarg takes on the meaty role, while in Painkiller the widely known and accomplished veteran actor Matthew Broderick plays Sackler. So which of the two did it better? Well, if you’ve seen both shows in their entirety, this one should be a bit of a slam-dunk answer.
Stuhlbarg vs. Broderick: Who Was the Better Richard Sackler?
As has been depicted in these fictionalized portrayals of events, Richard Sackler was a money-hungry man driven by both a fear of failure in the eyes of his father, and the need to prove that he was a good businessman who could carry on the Sackler and Purdue Pharma name into the 21st century. With this in mind, the answer to the above ask is obviously Michael Stuhlbarg. His ghoulishly detached and borderline sociopathic portrayal of Sackler is disconcerting and reflects a manner that can be seen in his deposition tapes.
Broderick was miscast from the get-go, and he wasn’t done any favors by both a lackluster script and direction of the Netflix show, which failed miserably in capturing the harrowing and painful narrative of the deadly OxyContin crisis that left so many people dead and even more families shattered. Broderick’s portrayal of Sackler is cartoonish and absurd, to the point that it doesn’t seem to be based on the actual man himself, but a satirized caricature that is oblivious to the damage he has done and the chaos he has created. Broderick should never have played the part of Sackler, and he and his agent should have said “thanks, but no thanks” to the role.
Why Michael Stuhlbarg Shines in ‘Dopesick’
Stuhlbarg has a knack for playing truly nefarious characters. He’s proven it in both movies like Cut Bank as well as on television, where he played a crime boss in both Boardwalk Empire and the recent Showtime hit Your Honor. He just has that look about him, doesn’t he? It’s mainly in the arched eyebrows and protruding and sculpted nose that emits a dreadful aura. In Dopesick, his physical attributes are accentuated with a detached sadness that is becoming of a Marvel villain origin story. The son who just couldn’t do anything right in the eyes of his family and colleagues eventually snaps and becomes the embodiment of evil, so he decides to go about creating a diabolical plan to spite all of them. Stuhlbarg’s presence is undeniable in this regard and with the time and development that is given to his portrayal of Sackler in Dopesick, you really get to take a ride with the character as he becomes more and more demoralized and neutered by everyone around him.
Matthew Broderick Never Had a Chance in ‘Painkiller’
We’ve already discussed how Matthew Broderick was horribly miscast in Painkiller, and it’s true. Put simply, he just isn’t very believable as a dastardly corporate executive. Part of that is due to the naturally soft-spoken almost playful nature that he brings to the table, and the other part is some seriously flawed writing that paints his character into a corner. For whatever reason, the creative parties behind Painkiller decided that of all the oddities and eccentricities that make up Richard Sackler, they were going to go with his unusually close relationship with his dog as the main focus. Broderick never had a chance to hold a candle to Stuhlbarg’s presentation. When Broderick’s Sackler puts on sunglasses and starts to dance at the Purdue gala, it’s one of the cringiest moments of the entire series. Broderick is better than that and especially deserved something better on the page to better reflect his particular skill set. On top of all that, despite being close to the same age as Sackler at the time of the events depicted in the show, Broderick’s boyish facial features didn’t gel at all with the decision to give him a receding, great comb-over hairstyle. Stuhlbarg looks nothing like Sackler, yet it didn’t necessarily matter because he captured the character’s essence so very well.
Michael Stuhlbarg Also Benefits From a More Urgent and Serious Tone in ‘Dopesick’
Another reason why Stuhlbarg delivers a better Richard Sackler is that the overall tone of Dopesick is much more consistent with the nature of the man and the crisis. He definitely benefits from a more haunting and dark mood that is established at the very beginning of the Hulu version all the way to the finale. Broderick doesn’t get that same kind of subtextual support in Painkiller, as Netflix opted for a much more glib and garish version of the story and is rightfully penalized for it. Either the executives at Netflix or the producers of the show just completely misread the room, or the unilateral decision was made to go with a much less urgent and light-hearted approach. Either way, nobody did Broderick any favors, and he definitely needed better script development to go along with his performance. This is why it’s a no-brainer that the dyspeptic, Montgomery Burns-esque Stuhlbarg version of Sackler takes the cake over Broderick’s.
Painkiller is currently available to stream on Netflix, while Dopesick is currently available to stream on Hulu.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
