I couldn't help it... I went with the 'splosion picture!
I'm glad to see that Michael Bay didn't disappoint me by accidentally making a good movie. "Pain & Gain" was certainly not his worst film ("Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen"), but it is plenty awful. The frantic pacing, bad writing, and tries-to-hard cinematography are just a few of the problems with this mess of a film. The performances are played off as tongue-in-cheek, but that hardly seems appropriate for a "true story" about some insanely twisted people who are made very light in this film. And despite all of his efforts, Dwayne Johnson, who is absolutely the best part about this horrific piece, can't save "Pain & Gain" from its own clumsiness or stupidity. This is a film that is truly as dumb as the characters it tries to sell you on.
Grade: F
3D: N/A
Easter Egg: No, but I was really hoping for a gag reel.
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie
Director: Michael "Explosions" Bay
Writer(s): Christopher Marcus & Stephen McFeely - Articles - Peter Collins
RT: 129 min
Rating: R for bloody violence, crude sexual content, nudity, language throughout and drug use
Great review Paul. It suffers from characters who are too goofy to take seriously and the fact that Bay is trying to get us to root for the douche bag murderers. I didn’t hate it for this fact, but it was strange.
Thank you, Dan. I had a friend defend it as a dark comedy/satire, but it fails at both. If it was trying to be either, why not look to the Coen Brothers for inspiration. Something like "Fargo" pulled off both without ever trying to put real killers into a position of empathy. Though, I guess assuming that Michael Bay would look to the Coen Brothers for anything would be giving him ENTIRELY too much credit.
Great review Paul. It suffers from characters who are too goofy to take seriously and the fact that Bay is trying to get us to root for the douche bag murderers. I didn’t hate it for this fact, but it was strange.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dan. I had a friend defend it as a dark comedy/satire, but it fails at both. If it was trying to be either, why not look to the Coen Brothers for inspiration. Something like "Fargo" pulled off both without ever trying to put real killers into a position of empathy. Though, I guess assuming that Michael Bay would look to the Coen Brothers for anything would be giving him ENTIRELY too much credit.
ReplyDeleteMichael "Explosions" Bay...ahhhh hahahahahaha...I can't, lol. Hilarious....idk why but I liked it.
ReplyDelete