Review of How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2012) by Thomas W — 23 Mar 2014

First-time feature documentarian director Matthew Cooke's 'How to Make Money Selling Drugs' is about exactly that. There is no clever misdirection, grand illusion, trick or outright lie ...

it is about making LOTS of money while selling drugs. In what has been described as a "shockingly candid examination", Cooke interviews a cross-section of "insiders" - dealers, big pharma lobbyists (ka-ching!), prison employees etc.

-- who know this world of secret deals and cutting and mixing as few others who have survived to tell their tales. While the documentary deals with unsavory subject matter, Cooke keeps the footage rather PG-13 and his style and format becomes most engrossing.

He starts the viewer out as a little Joe Schmoe selling drugs to his high school class and teammates before escalating his "business" over the course of a relatively short amount of time into a multi-million dollar, international conglomeration complete with mules (some very unfortunate souls) and chefs and high profile clientele.

While Moore shows the audience how frighteningly easy a global market can be obtained (which brings in the BIG bucks), he never once glamorizes the trade without depicting the harsh realities (cops, fights, bad deals, death) that are never more than a few steps away at any given time of day.

In order to not boggle down the mind of most viewers and to keep the film fresh and interesting, Cooke breaks his film into segments one might come across in an "Idiot's Guidebook". It is made clear that just about anybody can sell some drugs but it is NOT a wise profession.

It is an interesting watch ... which might sadly influence some pathetic copycats who are both dangerous and dumb.