Genre:
Comedy
Directed
by: Michael Bay
Starring:
Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie
Running
time: 129 minutes
Loosely
based on some real crimes committed in Florida in the 1990’s, this American black
comedy tells the story of a trio of bodybuilders who, to improve their status
and their lifestyles, get involved in kidnapping, extortion and murder.
Unfortunately for them, they are not smart enough to have any hope of escaping
the authorities.
Mark
Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have a particularly good chemistry on
screen. They really do play well opposite each other. I must give a special
mention to good ol’ Marky Mark, who, despite the fact that he was already in
shape, showed some great dedication to the role by gaining all the muscle mass
necessary to play a bodybuilder. Ed Harris was a nice surprise here, though his
role was small one.
The
story itself is compelling enough, though it has been largely criticized for
making light of a serious situation and portraying these criminals as more
sympathetic than they really were. I definitely can see the merit in that
complaint. The storyline took some foolish turns sometimes and the moviemakers
were trying a little too hard, in my opinion, to be funny. Humor has to be
organic; if it is too forced, it fails.
I
found the movie to be a tad long; it ended up dragging a bit towards the end,
and I wanted it to end. Too much pain and not enough gain. There were some good
aspects, especially as far as the acting goes. Some people complained about the
violence, but that doesn’t really bother me. Pain & Gain is a very average
film. Not a must-see, but still some entertainment value.
Rating:
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