Pain and Gain: 7/10

Pain and Gain is a true story that was seemingly meant to be adapted into a Michael Bay movie. It has all the Miami sex, drugs, and rock n' roll violence required to satisfy a director that has seen his best work remain stuck in the 90s. It is a roughhouse movie that keeps no prisoners, has no heroes, has no winners, and ultimately gives you a sweet and sour taste in your mouth. The fact that all the macabre being true events gives it its sourness, but the underlying spoofing and parodying of the religion of the American Dream gives Pain and Gain its bite that elevates it beyond anything Bay has made since Bad Boys II---another movie that has the similar aftertaste.

Back in the mid-90s, a charismatic bodybuilder (Mark Wahlberg) creates a plan to recruit a couple people to extort richer clients out of all their money. And even though the plan had many holes, the plan actually goes through because of a surprising series of events. Without spoiling too much, as time progresses the holes to the original idea get bigger, even as they attempt to take their gang lifestyle to the next level. But just like in the real story, the movie takes an extremely ugly turn as our anti-heroes dwell deeper into more sinister territory.

What keeps the movie going and remaining entertaining despite the bitter tone is the intriguing storyline and the sharp (surprisingly) direction by Michael Bay—who learned to not take everything so seriously. Through an intriguing blend of shots and quick-cuts, Pain and Gain flows through zany moment to zany moment while delivering the Michael Bay touch that sometimes works (Bad Boys) and sometimes doesn't (All Transformers movi1es). And even though the main characters were not likable in the least, their scenario and downward spiral to evil definitely deserves a viewing.

While it became quite odd to take such a notorious and despicable act of violence by three deranged and truly desperate men and transform it into a satire of the American Dream and the pursuit of happiness through religion and the seven deadly sins, that's just a part of the mixed packaging of Pain and Gain. While it is hard to want to dwell deeper into a film with rape jokes and random gratuitous nudity, there is an underlying message about the pure selfishness and ignorance that might follow you while pursuing success. Layers in a Bay film never ever happen, but with a story as gruesome as the Sun Gym Gang, it really leaves you wanting an explanation for why all the madness happened.

Pain and Gain isn't just any cut-and-paste true crime tale because of the background content alone. While it lacks the Goodfellas likability, it still delivers an entertaining story that contains the rancorous taste of a Coen Brothers crime drama. This movie will entertain and might even leave you thinking, even if you may not like what you are seeing on the screen.