Whether coincidence or not, after watching I Care a Lot, Body Brokers also brought up the issue of a health scandal that could complement one another. Body Brokers was worked on by John Swab, starring Frank Grillo, Jack Kilmer, Michael Keneth Williams, and Jessica Rothe. Both of these films are arguably important films capable of exposing a health scandal in the US involving many parties with a circulation of billions of US dollars. Unlike I Care a Lot, Body Brokers’ script is inspired by a true story.
Two young people, Utah (Kilmer) and her boyfriend, Opal, are heavy heroin addicts. They are willing to do anything to get money just for a ton of heroin. Utah, tired of all this, finally did not turn down an offer by a foreign man, Wood (Williams), to enter a rehabilitation centre at a clinic in Los Angeles. After several months there, Utah finally realized that it had become a “victim” to a broker who used addicts’ insurance services to make massive profits. Wood soon invited Utah to join a much larger system led by his boss, Vin (Grillo).
With I Care a Lot, the issue this film raises is indeed extraordinary. An issue as big as this one deserves a much better script than this. Unlike I Care a Lot, which is presented in a more cinematic way, Body Brokers focuses more on how this system works with the most detailed down numbers. The narrative of the boss, Vin (Grillo), can explain everything very clearly how fragile the health system in the US is. Addicts are like a gold mine for these brokers. The issue is big OK, so what’s the story? The script should provide a more biting moral message without having to present an anticlimax ending. It is unfortunate.
Body Brokers presents a good story with weak executions that do not balance the significant issues and scandals it carries. Body Brokers is an ordinary story film and a medium to provide valuable information to the audience. The more people who are aware of this problem, the better. This practice of irregularities does not only occur in the US but everywhere. This film is also reminiscent of a documentary with the same theme, Sicko, by veteran filmmaker Michael Moore. Something is wrong with our world today. If the Covid-19 pandemic doesn’t teach us a lesson, somehow we have to learn more. Or we should all take to the streets with a poster, “Capitalism Sucks”. If it doesn’t change, this will be a significant setback for humanity. It doesn’t seem like a system but a greedy human nature.
Stay safe and healthy!
