I'm not sure what's more unbelievable about Pain & Gain, the true life story
upon which it was based or the fact that this was Michael Bay's idea of a
low-budget indie movie.
Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) has a great body, but not a lot
of brains to go with his delusional view of the American dream or his staunch
sense of entitlement. After doing time for a Ponzi scheme, Lugo goes to work as
a personal trainer at the Sun Gym in Miami. Formerly a rundown spot for old
folks, Lugo turns it into a haven for the built and beautiful. However, he's
not satisfied and spots a big, fat payday in his obnoxious client Victor
Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub). Kershaw openly brags about his wealth, his offshore
accounts, and the Schlotzsky's Deli he owns at the airport. Lugo hits on the
idea to kidnap Kershaw and hold him hostage until he signs over all his assets.
This ersatz mastermind recruits his best pal Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie), a
fellow bodybuilder who has been rendered impotent by steroid abuse, and Paul
Doyle (Dwayne Johnson), an ex-con who has traded his coke habit for Jesus. After
several bumbling attempts, the muscle-bound trio snatches Kershaw and tortures
him for nearly a month inside a warehouse full of sex toys. Lugo and his crew
are able to enjoy their ill-gotten gains primarily because Kershaw is such a
prick that the police have a hard time believing or sympathizing with him. When
Doorbal and Doyle blow their newfound wealth on penile injections and cocaine,
Lugo is forced to abduct a new mark with disastrous consequences.
Pain & Gain is
unmistakably a Michael Bay film even without the widescreen mayhem and
deafening explosions. His garish aesthetics are simpatico with the bizarre,
true-life events adapted for the screen by Christopher Markus and Stephen
McFeely (Captain America, Chronicles of Narnia). For once, it actually
makes sense for Bay to populate the backgrounds with buxom babes since the
story involves strippers galore. The saturated orange and teal color palette
accentuates the sun soaked paradise of Miami. The camera whips along at a
frenzied pace with super slow motion employed to great effect during a SWAT
team raid. When Doyle barbecues a pair of dismembered hands to destroy
fingerprints, an intertitle is stamped onto the screen to remind you that this
is still based on fact. The question remains: is Bay just doing what comes
natural or has he developed a sense of awareness that allows him to lampoon his
own style?
As Bay flirts with the notion of self-parody, he walks a
thin line between glorifying and condemning the actions of his characters.
There's no doubt that these men aren't the least bit sympathetic, not to
mention aggressively stupid. The fact that their brutality was played for
laughs has upset the real victims of the Sun Gym Gang. The dark humor eschews
closely to the works of Guy Ritchie or the Crank
films. Stomachs may turn when chainsaws are broken out to chop up corpses or
when a severed toe comes into play.
The cast really sinks their teeth into their respective
roles with Mark Wahlberg excelling as the archetypal meathead. His Daniel Lugo
is definitely cut from the same cloth as Dirk Diggler with a more sinister
side. Tony Shalhoub brings Victor Kershaw to odious life while Rebel Wilson,
Michael Rispoli, and Peter Stormare fill out the colorful supporting cast. Ken
Jeong is thankfully utilized in small doses as a motivational speaker ("Be a do'er, not a don't'er")
that inspires Lugo. Ed Harris portrays
the straight man as a retired cop turned private investigator. He essentially
takes on the Tommy Lee Jones role in No
Country for Old Men as the one good man in an insane world. The best
performance in Pain & Gain
belongs to Dwayne Johnson, who bulked up to bigger proportions than he ever had
in his WWE career. There's a naiveté initially displayed by Johnson that makes
Doyle a gentle giant, then shows deft comedic timing when he reverts into a
desperate coke head.
Pain & Gain is
easily Michael Bay's best picture, which may be a backhanded compliment when
his filmography includes Bad Boys 2
and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Rating: *** (*****)
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