Pain & Gain

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Belinda

Michael Bay forgoes his usual big budget blockbuster and gets back down and dirty with a passion project, a comedic true crime story that' taken him 10 years to get off the ground. And it's a hell of a story, so unbelievable it could only be true.

It feels a little strange laughing at these idiot characters, knowing that they were actually real people but the great cast really give it their all and create many memorable moments. In true Bay fashion, it's a little chaotic but the pace is kept up for the most part and the script is much better than his recent giant robot efforts. The 5 person narration is a little overwhelming but I guess it gets you right into the head of every character very quickly and provides some good lines. Still it seems a little lazy.

And of course it's colour graded to the nines. Looks pretty good and they even throw in GoPro footage for some unusual angles. Bay does his tracking through holes in the wall gag to follow two scenes at once again. Still the same bag of tricks, but the script doesn't really call for any Bayhem.

I thought Mark Wahlberg was fantastic but everything that Dwayne Johnson did was just hysterical. He has a good singing voice too. Who knew?

A dark satire with horrifically delusional characters that you can't help but laugh at and then feel bad about after. Strange experience but ultimately I enjoyed it muchly.