Pain and Gain (2013) Review

There is a certain sense of shame that I feel when I realize that I paid a ticket for, thereby supporting, a Michael Bay film. There are few directors who are as universally disliked as Michael Bay, yet there are few that are as financially successful. It is a strange phenomenon, but it lies in the fact that he delivers what could be considered the definition of mindless summer blockbuster, something that we humans have a strange affection for.

Pain And Gain is a smaller movie then what we have gotten from him lately, seriously there is only like one explosion in the whole film. That being said, it is about some of the biggest human beings alive, by which I mean bodybuilders. Based on a true story it gives the pretty fucked up story of three guys who decided to kidnap and torture rich people to the point where they signed over all their money. Of course it seems only natural that they decided to make this a comedy… in all seriousness I do think the darkly comedic part of the film is the main thing it has got going for it. Some people may be very offended by the fact that they make a comedy of these people stupidity, but personally I got past that quickly.

To start off with the positives, The Rock (the actor, not the Michael Bay film), is by far the best thing in the movie. He plays a once coke addicted criminal who found Christ and is trying to be a good Christian… while injecting himself with steroids of course. The movie is elevated to a whole new level when he is on screen as he manages to be the only one who is at least somewhat sympathetic, as well as having great comedic timing. Sadly he is for the most part the only one who hits the right notes when it comes to intentional humour. Mark Wahlberg is a hit and miss actor for me, but this is a huge miss in his department. He is not likable, funny or interesting to watch

One of the film´s biggest problems is that Michael Bay doesn´t really know what he wants the tone of the film to be. At times it seems like he is aiming for something almost satirical, but then you start to wonder if it isn´t in fact satirical, but actually serious. One of the on going themes so to speak is that of the American Dream, but I could never tell if he was ridiculing it or celebrating it and it felt unintentionally funny.

 

Another issue is the film narration, which is done by almost every major character in the film. I don´t if this was an attempt to give the characters more depth, but whatever it was for, it didn´t work, leading to much confusion about who is speaking. The narration plagued the film for the first two-thirds, but was lessened by the last act, making the final act the most enjoyable.

The lack of purpose or consistency throughout the film made it often dull as the jokes weren’t hitting, but by the third act it really did pick itself up and became pretty entertaining. It is most definitely a bad film, but it is an often-entertaining film thanks to The Rock, who forms a solid foundation for the mess around him. That being said he was entertaining enough that I did have a good time for the most part and so the film was made watchable by his great charisma.

2.5/5