PHOTO BY BRIAN DOUGLAS / NETFLIX

The goal in a review, I think, is just to evaluate how successful a movie is at being what it wants to be. In short: Did this movie do what it set out to do?

The trouble here is, I don’t really know what “Pain Hustlers” wants to do.

I know what it wants to emulate, at least. It’s an imitation of ripped-from-the-headlines, here’s-the-real-story dramas that have found some success in recent years — topical entertainments that cover subjects both dry (“The Big Short”) and pulpy (“I, Tonya.”) “Pain Hustlers,” a sardonic drama about a tiny sliver of the opioid crisis, wants to be that kind of movie.

Structurally, it is. So that’s something. The question, then, is whether it’s wise to do a movie about the greatest medical misconduct of the past century from the perspective of some salespeople who had to go to jail for a few months.

Emily Blunt plays Liza Drake, a struggling single mother and sometimes exotic dancer who impresses a smooth-talking drug rep (Chris Evans). He brings her into the floundering pharmaceutical company he works for, which has a potentially groundbreaking opioid for cancer patients but can’t get any traction.

Through shady deals with doctors, some legally dubious kickbacks and screaming motivational speeches lifted from “The Wolf of Wall Street,” the company briefly flies high before expanding its reach and getting thousands of patients hooked on hard drugs. It’s a whirlwind rise and fall — with some basis in reality, as the film is a fictionalized version of the downfall of Insys Therapeutics.

Director David Yates has given the bulk of his adult life to the Harry Potter franchise — he directed four movies in the main franchise and all three Fantastic Beasts films — so he’s clearly thrilled to be working on a movie without any wizards. He adds flair and a persistent drive to a slightly bloated script (by the short-story writer Wells Tower). Blunt is compelling, rounding out a stock character into something close to a relatable human being.

Still: Who are we supposed to root for, here? Do we want her to grow a conscience and stop the madness, knowing that’s not how things worked out in real life? Are we meant to have sympathy for these scoundrels? Considered coolly, the movie is entertaining — but it’s hard to feel entertained when the subject matter walks us straight to dismay at a long-burning American tragedy.

I don’t know the answers to any of those questions — and the movie doesn’t, either.

My Rating: 5/10

“Pain Hustlers” is now streaming on Netflix.