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6.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Pharmacist remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like watching a man slowly lose his mind in a small, cramped room, then yes, pull up a chair. It is perfect for anyone who has ever worked a customer service job and wanted to scream at the ceiling. If you need a tight, twisty plot or high-stakes drama, you will probably hate this. It is basically just a series of bad days stacked on top of each other.
W.C. Fields is doing exactly what you want him to do here. He is just tired. You can see it in his eyes when he has to deal with another customer asking for something ridiculous. The whole movie feels like it was filmed in the middle of a headache, which I mean as a compliment. 💊
There is this one moment where a customer comes in with a child, and the kid just starts tearing the place apart. Fields does not even blink. He just stares into the middle distance like he is already dead inside. It is so relatable it hurts.
The pacing is honestly all over the place. It does not care about your time. Scenes just stop whenever they want. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Next Aisle Over, but with more pills and fewer actual jokes that make sense.
The family dynamic is… something. They show up, they demand things, they leave. They are like ghosts that want money. It is not exactly a deep study of domestic life, but it works as a slapstick nightmare.
It is not a masterpiece. It is just a snapshot of a guy being ground down by the world. It is a bit messy, the lighting is weirdly harsh, and the ending feels like they just ran out of film. But for twenty minutes? It hits the spot.
I caught myself laughing at the sound of the register. It is a very specific, annoying sound. The movie is essentially just a showcase for how much one person can tolerate before they finally snap. Most of us just keep going, I guess. 🤷♂️