I might be wrong, but if I recall correctly the first true story Michael Bay directed was Transformers. Well, the king of dynamite is at it again with Pain & Gain. Another true story (actually alot truer than the robot thing) based around a trio of bodybuilders (Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie) who under the guidance of Daniel Lugo, (Wahlberg) kidnap a rather wealthy individual. The subsequent scheme to extort his assets and any cash he has is something that even the movie will remind you, that this actually happened. And while its taken what feels like an absolute age to get released on this side of the pond, its certainly worth the wait.
Once the kidnapping takes place, the movie steps up a gear and the madness goes from demented to complete and utter WTF. The chemistry between the 3 leads is impeccable with Wahlberg leading the way literally, and yet again, Wahlberg flexes his acting muscles delivering a likeable character, combined with plenty of hilarious moments. Speaking of muscles, Wahlberg has put on some serious mass for this role and he should take enormous credit for that.
Anthony Mackie (who’s signed on to play The Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Solider) does a great job here and delivers many of the movies hilarious one liners and scenes. Dwyane Johnson is really after cementing himself here. Regardless of the fact that he’s built like 10 brick shithouses, he projects a superb innocence at all times and is immensely likeable. As an ensemble cast they work. And work fantastically well. But the real shining light here is Tony Shalhoub who plays the victim with nothing but sheer brilliance.
Michael Bay has spent much of his career blowing shit up (including the box office, to his credit) and its easy to forget that the director can put his hand to something that doesn’t require skyscrapers collapsing and gigantic robots farting around the place.
Pain & Gain has quite a stylish look to it and regardless of its 129 minute time, it rollicks along for the best part. That said, it does feel a little bit dragged out in places, especially in the latter half, but this is only a minor criticism.
With a fantastic cast and an absolutely insane story, Pain & Gain is all gain and very little pain. Definitely worth a watch!
Once the kidnapping takes place, the movie steps up a gear and the madness goes from demented to complete and utter WTF. The chemistry between the 3 leads is impeccable with Wahlberg leading the way literally, and yet again, Wahlberg flexes his acting muscles delivering a likeable character, combined with plenty of hilarious moments. Speaking of muscles, Wahlberg has put on some serious mass for this role and he should take enormous credit for that.
Anthony Mackie (who’s signed on to play The Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Solider) does a great job here and delivers many of the movies hilarious one liners and scenes. Dwyane Johnson is really after cementing himself here. Regardless of the fact that he’s built like 10 brick shithouses, he projects a superb innocence at all times and is immensely likeable. As an ensemble cast they work. And work fantastically well. But the real shining light here is Tony Shalhoub who plays the victim with nothing but sheer brilliance.
Michael Bay has spent much of his career blowing shit up (including the box office, to his credit) and its easy to forget that the director can put his hand to something that doesn’t require skyscrapers collapsing and gigantic robots farting around the place.
Pain & Gain has quite a stylish look to it and regardless of its 129 minute time, it rollicks along for the best part. That said, it does feel a little bit dragged out in places, especially in the latter half, but this is only a minor criticism.
With a fantastic cast and an absolutely insane story, Pain & Gain is all gain and very little pain. Definitely worth a watch!
