Review of Pain & Gain (2013) by Ameen K — 23 Jun 2015

Let me start off by saying, I enjoyed Pain & Gain...a lot. I think the reason people are giving this movie a lot of shit is because Michael Bay directed it. I think before the movie even started, critics went in not giving it a chance just because most of the movies Michael Bay directs are...well...they're shit. I don't have a lot of problems with this movie, I really liked it. This is based on a true story and Michael Bay tried to make a comedy out of it, let's just say, he managed to piss off just about everyone involved with the real life crime. Let me start off with what I liked about this film. The score is amazing, I loved it. Most of the jokes didn't land but when some of them did, I was bawling. The actors did a great job but Dwayne Johnson and Ed Harris kill it. This movie is very interesting, it gets you thinking after about how these criminals were so stupid and how this actually happened. Some of the problems I had were, 75% of the jokes didn't land, I feel like if they kept a serious tone throughout, it would've been better. The whole Anthony Mackie situation in the movie is silly and stupid, it should've been cut. Some scenes were edited really weird. Overall, I really enjoyed Pain & Gain, this is one of Michael Bay's better films!

Pain & Gain: 4/5 stars.