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nTitle: Pain and Gain (2013)
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nDirector: Michael Bay
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nCast: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, TonynShalhoub, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry, Ken Jeong, Peter Stormare
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nReview:
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nAfter Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2013) came out, action director extraordinaire MichaelnBay said he’d leave the Transformers franchise alone because he wanted to trynand make a “smaller budget film” (which in Bay’s world means 25 millionndollars) called Pain and Gain; the story of three crazy bodybuilders fromnFlorida who decide to kidnap a millionaire, torture him, make him sign over hisnfortune to them, then they’d kill him and take over his life. Unfortunatelynthat’s all easier said than done because this millionaire is one tough cookienwho just won’t die! Interesting part about this story is that it happened fornreal! How true to life did the film turn out to be? And is it any good?
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nPain and Gain is a film that garnered some controversynbecause people (including victims involved in the crime) didn’t like the ideanthat these criminals were going to be glorified somehow, they didn’t like thenidea that audiences were possibly going to sympathize with the criminals;nunfortunately, those comments are completely without merit because we don’tnside with the criminals in the film. These guys are despicable and we’re notnmeant to like them. True, they are funny dudes, because Wahlberg, Johnson andnMackie play them that way, and this is after all a black comedy, but evennthough they make us laugh with the craziness of the situations, we’re not meantnto empathize with them, so you can throw those concerns out the window. Thesencharacters are not the heroes of the film, they are the villains. Pain and Gainnis for all intents and purposes a morality tale. Like a Tales from the Cryptnepisode, the bad guys always pay in the end; in the end the film shows the agenold idea that crime does not pay and that there is no short cut to the AmericannDream.
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nEven though this is a departure of sorts for Michael Bay whonnormally works with movies that cost over 200 million dollars, Pain and Gain isnstill very much a Michael Bay film. Keeping true to his style, there’s lots ofncolor, there’s lots of cool cars, sunsets, scantily clad hotties, I mean,neverything you’ve come to expect from Michael Bay. One thing is missing though:nexplosions, this is the one Michael Bay where there isn’t an explosion everynfive minutes, so Mr. Bay, I salute you for stretching your directorial musclesneven for a bit. But same as every other Michael Bay movie, characters talk atnlightning fast pace, I was going to say “as if they were coked up most of thentime” but they are coked up…all the time! The chemistry between Wahlberg,nDwayne Johnson and Mackie is awesome; they truly are what keeps us watching thenfilm. Here’s a Michael Bay film that doesn’t keep us interested via visualneffects or action, what keeps us watching is the insane situations and thenfunny dialog, these three muscle bound criminals are so stupid! At one momentnwhile they are planning a murder Wahlberg’s character says “I’ve watched a lotnof movies, I know what I’m doing!”
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nCredit has to be given to Tony Shalhoub, a guy who normallynplays quiet, introspective characters, yet on this show he plays against type,nthe rich, loud butt hole whom everybody hates. I thought it was interesting hownhe plays “the victim” but at the same time he is a completely despicable guy.nFunny thing about Shalhoub’s character is that he was a low life in real lifenas well! After he helped catch the “the Sun Gym Gang” he himself was also prosecutednfor committing fraud and embezzling money, though this part of the story isn’tntouched upon in the film. Speaking of changes from life to screen, Of course,nthere were some changes, primarily with the character played by Dwayne Johnson.nIn real life, Johnson’s character was a wimpy looking dude, not a body buildernat all. But these types of changes are to be expected, directors love to jumpnat the chance to make their film more dramatic, or more action oriented,nbigger, louder, especially in a Michael Bay film. This is why Bay, seeing the opportunitynwith the always ultra charismatic Dwayne Johnson, turned his character into an300 pound crank freak. But so what, in the end, this film is a hyperbole, annexaggeration and a very entertaining one. So mission accomplished in my book; Inwas laughing all the way. And just when you think the story can’t get crazynenough, Dwayne Johnson starts a bbq with human parts, the film freeze framesnand a text comes up on screen saying “this story is still based on real lifenevents”. And then it slaps you in the face, crazy people like the ones depictednin Pain and Gain could be your personal trainers at the gym, or your barbers, sonthink it over before telling anybody your personal affairs, they could benplotting to overtake your empire.
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nRating: 4 out of 5
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