Director Michael Bay (Armageddon (1998) and Transformers (2007)) brings us Pain and Gain, a remarkably true story from 1990s Miami where a group of body-builders, consisting of Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg), Paul Doyle (Johnson) and Adrian Doorbal (Mackie), chase the American dream but end up getting caught up in the criminal life they created for themselves and their lives begin to unravel.
Main man Daniel Lugo is a gym instructor who simply wants to create a better life that would compliment his astounding physic. With the words of self-help guru Johnny Wu (Ken Jeong) ringing in his ears, Lugo and his gym buddies attempt a snatch and grab of one of Lugo's outrageously wealthy clients.
My main issue with this film is that I just wasn't truly interested at any moment. Pain and Gain wasn't funny enough to be a comedy film and did not stick true to any dramatic/thriller elements. I felt like I was going through the motions whilst watching this film, never being particularly bored but never wowed. At times I was slightly confused by this movie, with sudden irregular actions such as the barbecuing of human hands and spontaneous bench pressing at unnecessary moments.
Overall the film was extremely disappointing and I feel it would have benefited by either fully committing to being a comedy or, the opposite, being a proper crime thriller.
My only real positive for this picture was Michael Bay's use of the camera, the best of which coming during a scene where Lugo is attempting to push through a fake deal with a wealthy businessman and things end up turning sour. Bay successfully and fluidly moves the camera through three rooms continuously, allowing a huge contrast of emotions being available to see in one motion.
The mixing of genres really hinders this film, and is one I definitely won't be buying on DVD or recommending to friends.
4/10
J.Henderson.
