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| Rated R |
Pain & Gain (2013)
Director
Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon, Bad Boys)
Cast
Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris
Twitter-fied Plot Summary
A buff personal trainer hoping to attain the "American dream" recruits his gym buddies to pull off a kidnapping and extortion scheme. Chaos ensues.
Review Byte
If you walk into this with minimal prior knowledge of the movie, a lot will make sense when "Directed by: Michael Bay" flashes before your eyes at the end when you're sitting there wondering what you just endured. This movie truly depicts the kind of entertainer Bay is, and the only words that seem to come to mind are "cheap" and "excessive." The movie's ambitions to come off as a dark comedy is evident, however it felt too mindless than comedic, and too off-putting than dark.
Raves
- Quite the interesting subject matter (you'll find yourself periodically asking in reassurance if this is all really based on a true story)
- Seemingly never-ending twists and unexpected moments
- Sprinkles of irony here and there
- Dwayne Johnson's amusing portrayal of a gentle giant
Rants
- Poor attempts at finding humor in an otherwise heinous story of a true crime seems downright insensitive at times
- You will feel your IQ levels drop as the story progresses (this may have been done intentionally?)
- Michael Bay's signature style of shallow amplification with very little payoff is just too blatant
Fun Fact
In order to prepare for their roles, Wahlberg and Johnson altered their diets to include a combined number of about 17 meals per day.
Final Consensus
Only watch this movie after it gets released on DVD...or better yet, just skip it altogether.
