Pain & Gain

How do you combine irony, distance, fun and shock? Don't ask Michael, he doesn’t know. The problem of Pain and Gain can be summed up in one sentence: for this type of film to work, it needs to be smarter than its characters. And it's not. The director has no distance, the escalating dementia of everything and everyone excuses the genre of black comedy and the complete imbalance of tone of the popular alibi that reality is "stranger than fiction". But it is not in this form. Everything that is strange and unsettling about this story was melted by Bay in a sweaty muscular goulash, all the dynamics of which lie in the constant movement of the camera and grotesque performances that do not have a shred of integrity in them (just like the entire script). How does one make it so that all the pain brings some gain, other than superficial tabloid entertainment? This equation is beyond Bay's capabilities. (07/31/2013)

In the context of sweat and blood, there is often talk of black humor and crazy fun. But I didn't notice anything like that, and please, I like black humor, and I was quite curious to see how Michael Bay would make a story about people who empowered everything but their brains, a story made for the Coen brothers. He filmed it well, it has his style and flair, but I didn't like a single character in it, the humor was still one-note, the only bright spot of the more than two-hour spectacle was Ed Harris who didn't get much space... I just felt quite out of place when something was happening on the screen that I was supposed to be laughing at, but I wasn't. Michael Bay's worst movie. (08/09/2015)

I was really looking forward to watching Pain & Gain. Bay made it out of pure love for cinematography. To be able to make this, he signed up for making the fourth Transformers, and he put the Rock and Mark Wahlberg into it. I really like these two, so one beautiful sunny day I decided to go to the cinema, expecting to enjoy nice actors, great action, fun and amusement. And that’s not quite what I got, and I must admit that I keep mulling this over. The actors are not the problem. Mark Wahlberg is as hunky as probably never before, while the Rock is playing what is probably the most distinctive role of his career. The problem lies in the story. There is no one to root for. Everybody in this movie is a bastard. Moreover, this film is full of absolutely brutal dark humor. That wouldn’t be that bad, because I like this type of humor and usually have no problems with it. The problem comes when it begins to brutally cross the line. The line is crossed by the spectacular action, shot with a very decent, even though sometimes rather shaky camera, but also by the humor, which I couldn’t even get in the end. (08/15/2013)

Very likely the worst Michael Bay. A film that has an amazing soundtrack, likeable Wahlberg and Johnson and great actors (Wahlberg/Johnson and Harris, respectively), over-the-top visuals, and a crazy story that can't be taken seriously and thankfully doesn't take itself too seriously either. But at the same time, it’s a routine and tedious ride without a shred of creative innovation and Bay's previous passion, filmed apparently just to kill time before the next Transformers and to cement the collaboration between director and lead actor. I finished it okay, but I wouldn’t want to see it a second time for anything in the world. 60% (03/19/2014)

Tony Scott is in God’s truth and so the throne for the king of sexy filtered filmmaking is once again at the disposal of one man. I never expected Michael Bay to confirm his status as a conversational crime comedy even in my wildest dreams, which is mainly due to the brilliantly absurd script, excellent actors, and the director's obvious desire to make something for his own entertainment. This is definitely the best Michael Bay film since... well, since The Rock. (08/29/2013)