'Pain & Gain' review by Captain Raptor
Okay, so I think it's fair to say that nobody reading this is expecting Pain & Gain to be the new Casablanca. It's simply not that kind of film. So to give this a more fitting review, the level of quality it should be roughly aiming to equal is that of Michael Bay's gold standard (and arguably his only half-good film) Bad Boys, a perfectly capable and enjoyable action-comedy.
The problem is, even when you've lowered the bar, Pain & Gain still doesn't really succeed. Michael Bay does two things really well - outrageous action scenes and quips - and everything else just really isn't his forte. It's possible to make a good film out of these two ingredients and little else (which is why Bad Boys was such a good film), but Pain & Gain contains a lot else. Yeah, some of the jokes stick, and there are some cool action scenes, but Bay's attempts to build characterisation or to make some quasi-satirical point about the American dream are poor at best. One of the major flaws of the film is that there's nobody to really root for; the three main characters are either too obnoxious to like or too foolish to feel sorry for, their victim (Tony Shalhoub) is an asshole, and the private detective brought in to wrap up the story (Ed Harris, who should really be embarrassed to be here) has about as much personality and charisma as Crawley. There's Michael Bay's usual disregard for women; all the primary female characters are either naive wives (although Rebel Wilson does bring some charm to the role) or strippers. The audience is reminded at several points during the film that 'This Is A True Story', as if that somehow makes it funnier or smarter.
Pain & Gain does have one feature that works without a hitch, however. Something that dominates the screen, both due to its entertainment value and its sheer size. I'm talking about Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson of course, putting in the best performance of his acting career. He delivers every line he's given like a champ (which he was, WWE King of the Ring in the year 2000), manages to evoke a lot of genuine emotion and, in his own words "knocks people the FUCK out" to the best of his ability. Whether he's barbecuing human hands or being cajoled into committing vehicular homicide, he gives a funny and surprisingly nuanced performance. Other talented performers who have been roped into the film (the aforementioned Wilson and Harris, Ken Jeong and Rob Corddry) are all given very little screen time, so the film is mostly spent watching Mark Wahlberg sweat for two hours (which is way, way longer than the film needed to be). The action, Michael Bay's speciality, isn't really up to par and the film repeatedly tries and fails to create some tension. It's too dry for its target audience and too dumb for anybody else.
So, yeah, Pain & Gain isn't exactly fantastic, but did anybody really expect it to be? Large parts of it are fun when it stops taking itself so seriously, and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is genuinely fantastic in his role. Ultimately, this film would have been good had it been dumber (more explosions, stupid quotes and just generally more fun) or smarter (there's an interesting plot and character dynamics buried beneath the multiple layers of machismo and ignorance) than it was. As it stands, it's caught awkwardly between The Rock and a hard place. Bad Boys it ain't.
The problem is, even when you've lowered the bar, Pain & Gain still doesn't really succeed. Michael Bay does two things really well - outrageous action scenes and quips - and everything else just really isn't his forte. It's possible to make a good film out of these two ingredients and little else (which is why Bad Boys was such a good film), but Pain & Gain contains a lot else. Yeah, some of the jokes stick, and there are some cool action scenes, but Bay's attempts to build characterisation or to make some quasi-satirical point about the American dream are poor at best. One of the major flaws of the film is that there's nobody to really root for; the three main characters are either too obnoxious to like or too foolish to feel sorry for, their victim (Tony Shalhoub) is an asshole, and the private detective brought in to wrap up the story (Ed Harris, who should really be embarrassed to be here) has about as much personality and charisma as Crawley. There's Michael Bay's usual disregard for women; all the primary female characters are either naive wives (although Rebel Wilson does bring some charm to the role) or strippers. The audience is reminded at several points during the film that 'This Is A True Story', as if that somehow makes it funnier or smarter.
Pain & Gain does have one feature that works without a hitch, however. Something that dominates the screen, both due to its entertainment value and its sheer size. I'm talking about Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson of course, putting in the best performance of his acting career. He delivers every line he's given like a champ (which he was, WWE King of the Ring in the year 2000), manages to evoke a lot of genuine emotion and, in his own words "knocks people the FUCK out" to the best of his ability. Whether he's barbecuing human hands or being cajoled into committing vehicular homicide, he gives a funny and surprisingly nuanced performance. Other talented performers who have been roped into the film (the aforementioned Wilson and Harris, Ken Jeong and Rob Corddry) are all given very little screen time, so the film is mostly spent watching Mark Wahlberg sweat for two hours (which is way, way longer than the film needed to be). The action, Michael Bay's speciality, isn't really up to par and the film repeatedly tries and fails to create some tension. It's too dry for its target audience and too dumb for anybody else.
So, yeah, Pain & Gain isn't exactly fantastic, but did anybody really expect it to be? Large parts of it are fun when it stops taking itself so seriously, and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is genuinely fantastic in his role. Ultimately, this film would have been good had it been dumber (more explosions, stupid quotes and just generally more fun) or smarter (there's an interesting plot and character dynamics buried beneath the multiple layers of machismo and ignorance) than it was. As it stands, it's caught awkwardly between The Rock and a hard place. Bad Boys it ain't.
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