{2jtab: Movie Review}

Pain & Gain - Movie Review

{googleAds}

<div style="float:left">
<script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-9764823118029583";
/* 125x125, created 12/10/07 */
google_ad_slot = "8167036710";
google_ad_width = 125;
google_ad_height = 125;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>{/googleAds}

4 stars

Anyone who knows me or reads my reviews or has a brief conversation with me knows I cannot stand Michael “Mr. Awesome” Bay films.  His adolescent shenanigans just do little for me … except make me feel as if I suffer from PTSD.  This time out, Bay toys with a much smaller budget and throws a cohesive storyline into the mix and – wait for it – it does wonders for his credibility with me.  I’m not saying we’re completely on the mend here but if he continues down this path I will certainly pay him more attention.

Chances are you might not even know Pain & Gain is a Michael Bay film.  While it has a similar look to his summer blockbuster releases, Pain & Gain - both in form and function - is a black humor-laced comical romp full of exploitation and energy.  This is what happens when Bay dials down the special effects and turns up a bit of character development.    Call it Michael Bay’s version of Boogie Nights because that's certainly what it feels like.

Pain & Gain, written by Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, finds its origins ripped straight from the headlines.  Welcome to sunny Florida.  It’s the middle of the Nineties.  C+C Music Factory is on the airwaves.  Self-help infomercials are all the rage.  Life is good.  Ah, but it could always be better.  A trio of hapless and self-obsessed bodybuilders – played by Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie – want a bit more.

These three idiots hilariously design, launch, and continue (even when the plan is long past its prime) an ill-conceived kidnapping plot against an obnoxious regular at the gym they work at.  Viktor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) is about to lose everything he owns.  There are problems with the plan, of course, and things go completely out of control - especially when a seasoned PI (Ed Harris) comes out of retirement to sniff them and their steroids out.  You just won’t believe how far these three roided-out hooligans take their ill-begotten ideas.  Of course, Bay is there to keep reminding you that, as ludicrous as the events become, Pain & Gain is a real story.

That’s right, folks, some things – like barbequing freshly cut hands to remove their fingerprints - you just can’t make up.  Bay keeps his cameras loose and mixes the medium with a visual flare that is not unlike the films of Oliver Stone.  This is a hyper-realized world where anything can happen and, inside and outside of the gym, it usually does.  Strippers and porn stars become CIA agents.  Weights become weapons of mass destruction.  And a ‘born again’ Christian is tempted time and time again to cross (or snort) a familiar thin white line.

The amusing seat-of-the-pants happenings are all - eventually - about consequence and juice-induced daydreams while living the American Dream.  They unfold; however, with caustic humor, real tension, and some solid camera technical work from Bay and cinematographer Ben Seresin.  Several moments of prowess – one featuring a camera that rotates back and forth between walls – are quite unique and do more to ratchet up the overall technique and vision of the film than maybe Bay gets credit for.  Other moments are just hilarious and feature Wahlberg back in Calvin Klein underwear dismembering bodies.  Wahlberg.  Klein.  Satire gets visceral in a Bay film.  Nice.

Shalhoub’s Viktor, as nasty as he is, is held in a warehouse against his will and tortured with large dildos, sex toys, and crummy food.  The personal trainer quips are nonstop.  The rants – “I know what I’m doing, I’ve watched a lot of movies” – play off Bay’s own action mojo degree to great effect and warrant repeat viewings.  A distressed Shaloub is comforted by a hilariously over-sensitive Johnson, who wears a different ‘I love Jesus’ shirt each day, until even Shalhoub pushes him too far and smacks him down with the Lord's guiding hand.

While the small-brained and large-muscled criminals that inhabit Pain & Gain are mindless, the film, what it says, and how it is assembled – complete with multiple narrations that actually work – is the furthest thing from it.  Yes, there are brains operating the gears of this true life story.  From beginning to end, Pain & Gain is EXACTLY the type of smaller film Bay needs to be making.  The subject matter screams for his self-parodying, hyperactive camera and his slow-motion exaggeration.

Engaging and extremely comedic as it plays against a genre Bay knows all too well, I seriously doubt we can expect Bay to get much better than what he presents audiences with in Pain & Gain.  And they say crime doesn’t pay.  Well, it certainly pays off here.

{2jtab: Film Details}

Pain & Gain - Movie ReviewMPAA Rating: R for bloody violence, crude sexual content, nudity, language throughout and drug use.
Runtime:
130 mins.
Director
: Michael Bay
Writer
: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Cast: Rebel Wilson; Mark Wahlberg; Dwayne Johnson; Tony Shalhoug, Ed Harris; Anthony Mackie
Genre: Action | Comedy | Crime
Tagline: Their American Dream Is Bigger Than Yours
Memorable Movie Quote: "My name is Daniel Lugo, and I believe in fitness. All this began because it was time to push myself harder, otherwise I was looking at another forty years wearing sweatpants to work..."
Distributor:
Paramount Pictures
Official Site:
www.painandgainmovie.com
Release Date: April 26, 2013
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
August 27, 2013.

Synopsis: From acclaimed director Michael Bay comes Pain & Gain, a new action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie. Based on the unbelievable true story of three personal trainers in 1990s Miami who, in pursuit of the American Dream, get caught up in a criminal enterprise that goes horribly wrong. Ed Harris, Tony Shalhoub, Rob Corddry, Rebel Wilson and Bar Paly also star. The film is based on magazine articles by Pete Collins, with a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and produced by Donald DeLine, Michael Bay and Ian Bryce.

{2jtab: Blu-ray Review}

Pain & Gain - Blu-ray Review

Component Grades
Movie

Blu-ray Disc
4 stars

2 stars



Blu-ray Experience
3 stars

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - August 27, 2013
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles
: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); UV digital copy; Digital copy; DVD copy
Region Encoding: A

Paramount Home Entertainment brings Pain & Gain to Blu-ray as a two-disc combo pack with an UltraViolet Digital Copy.  The blisteringly accurate 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode shows off the photography of Ben Seresin with rippling detail.  Colors are bright and well-defined and black levels are consistently solid with great depth.   Flesh tones are healthy.  The digital cinematography displays brilliant, pitch-perfect contrast and, in spite of being shot on several different HD cameras, remains consistently engaging.  The wall of sound that accompanies the picture is supplied by a fully loaded Dolby TrueHD soundtrack.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

Unfortunately, the blu-ray and DVD combo pack comes with no special features. It's a shame since it could have been packed with features on everything from Bay working with a much smaller budget, to the story behind the story which is somehow even more twisted and dark than what's on screen

{/2jtabs}