Pain & Gain
Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and high-octane director Michael Bay (Transformers) bring this comedy about a pair of knucklehead bodybuilders in Florida, who get mixed up in a doomed extortion and kidnapping scheme. Based on a true story.
Pain & Gain marks a change of pace for Bay - the movie's budget is only $US25 million (a tiny budget relative to Transformers). The script is based on a story uncovered in a series of newspaper articles by investigative journalist Pete Collins.
- Director:
- Michael Bay ('Transformers', 'Pearl Harbour', 'Bad Boys', 'Armageddon')
- Writer:
- Christopher MarkusStephen McFeely
- Cast:
- Mark WahlbergDwayne JohnsonRebel WilsonAnthony MackieJohn TurturroKen JeongTony ShalhoubRob CorddryEd Harris
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Dominic Corry
flicksIt's telling that Michael Bay's notion of a scaled-down, pared-back movie experience is a dark, violent comedy bulging at the seams with testosterone. All of Bay's films exist in a glistening wonderland of toned bods and over-the-top action, and Pain & Gain has plenty of the former but little of the latter.
Reality Vs Fiction
Now I have to be honest, Michael Bay is not my favourite director but I went into this feature with an open mind. I should of gone in with my eyes closed. I get that it's a comedy of errors and I get the darker connotations of the story and I also get the perplexities of playing the characters in a dark comedy based on a true story, and I can live with...
Michael Bay reveals he actually has a self-conscious
Based on a bizarre true story, Pain & Gain is a perfect summation of Michael Bay's sensibility as a filmmaker. Filled with racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitic jibes and juvenile humour, Pain & Gain may well be the director's most personal work - a celebration of how low brow his awareness is as a storyteller. Working with his cheapest budget since...
Best Bay film since Bad Boys
This movie was ironic, funny and damn near depressing. Based on the true events of three body builders who try to extort a rich jewish client, end up kidnapping him and get caught up in some mayhem that ends with a double murder. Definitely not a family movie, but a good view either way.
Variety
pressBay can be a master of exuberant chaos, but here the violence mostly lands with a sickening thud, which is fitting, one supposes, but also ultimately numbing.
Time Out
pressIt’s M.B. business as usual: You’ve got your jacked-up, Jerry Bruckheimer–sanctioned aesthetic that jettisons all editorial coherence.
Time Magazine
pressIt's like a giant sculpture that is so strange and off-putting, it's instantly, intriguingly post-modern. Swept up in the film's pile-driving self-assurance, even Bay-haters may absorb the pain to enjoy the gain.
The New York Times
pressIt all leaves you pondering whether you have just seen a monumentally stupid movie or a brilliant movie about the nature and consequences of stupidity.
Flicks, Dominic Corry
flicksIt's telling that Michael Bay's notion of a scaled-down, pared-back movie experience is a dark, violent comedy bulging at the seams with testosterone. All of Bay's films exist in a glistening wonderland of toned bods and over-the-top action, and Pain & Gain has plenty of the former but little of the latter.
Variety
pressBay can be a master of exuberant chaos, but here the violence mostly lands with a sickening thud, which is fitting, one supposes, but also ultimately numbing.
Time Out
pressIt’s M.B. business as usual: You’ve got your jacked-up, Jerry Bruckheimer–sanctioned aesthetic that jettisons all editorial coherence.
Time Magazine
pressIt's like a giant sculpture that is so strange and off-putting, it's instantly, intriguingly post-modern. Swept up in the film's pile-driving self-assurance, even Bay-haters may absorb the pain to enjoy the gain.
The New York Times
pressIt all leaves you pondering whether you have just seen a monumentally stupid movie or a brilliant movie about the nature and consequences of stupidity.
Reality Vs Fiction
Now I have to be honest, Michael Bay is not my favourite director but I went into this feature with an open mind. I should of gone in with my eyes closed. I get that it's a comedy of errors and I get the darker connotations of the story and I also get the perplexities of playing the characters in a dark comedy based on a true story, and I can live with...
Michael Bay reveals he actually has a self-conscious
Based on a bizarre true story, Pain & Gain is a perfect summation of Michael Bay's sensibility as a filmmaker. Filled with racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitic jibes and juvenile humour, Pain & Gain may well be the director's most personal work - a celebration of how low brow his awareness is as a storyteller. Working with his cheapest budget since...
Best Bay film since Bad Boys
This movie was ironic, funny and damn near depressing. Based on the true events of three body builders who try to extort a rich jewish client, end up kidnapping him and get caught up in some mayhem that ends with a double murder. Definitely not a family movie, but a good view either way.
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