Pain & Gain (2013)
7/10
Flawed but greatly entertaining to watch
17 March 2015
It's nice to see Michael Bay take a little break from explosion-fueled action movies, and do a dark comedy based on events that took place during the fall of 1994 to summer of 1995, in Miami. In this film, Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie play a trio of bodybuilders of a Miami fitness center, who kidnap a millionaire named Victor Kershaw, and extort him for money. Their plan is to take his money and his house, and then murder him. While their attempt to obtain his wealth succeeds, their plan of eliminating goes terribly wrong, and unleashes a turbulent chain of events.

I honestly enjoyed this movie, it was fun to watch at times. However, I can't say I enjoyed every single bit of it. Some parts, such as the kidnapping, were exciting to watch. Then there were other scenes that didn't quite make much sense. I sat through a few scenes where I thought "what's the point here?", then the movie would suddenly get exciting again. Aside from this, this movie is very quotable, and had some memorable lines by Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson. The two showed some good comedic chemistry in many scenes and it made the film more enjoyable.

Some people may be offended by this film because it's a comedy that takes horrific events that occurred in real life and turns them into comedic situations. However, I kinda like the idea of the film being a comedy. I think the director made this film a comedy because of the characters and their stupidity. Mark Wahlberg plays Daniel Lugo, the owner of the fitness center (Sun Gym) and the leader of the gang who does the kidnapping. Then, Dwayne Johnson, who plays Paul Doyle, a member of the gym, and Anthony Mackie, who plays Adrian Doorbal, a friend of Daniel Lugo. These characters were not very smart and their attempts on kidnapping, stealing, and murder often lead to unwanted results. The characters' stupidity is kinda what made the movie entertaining and somewhat funny.
38 out of 49 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed