Pain & Gain

Michael Bay and his production company Platinum Dunes have been much derided in past years for his Transformers movies and remakes of classic 80s movies (which I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoy). But Pain & Gain is different. I think it shows that Bay is a talented director, who just needs to put a little more effort into his work.

The movie follows the unbelievably true story of three Miami bodybuilders, who in the mid-90s extorted one wealthy businessman and killed a porn magnate and his girlfriend. Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) is a lowly gym employee with dreams of greatness. He convinces fellow colleagues Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) and Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) to help kidnap corrupt businessman Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) and extort him of his wealth. Soon things start to unravel when greed, addiction and desperation get in the way.

With all the action that is going on in this film, it is hard to believe that this film is based on a true story. But it reminds throughout the film when it occasionally breaks the fourth wall, though only in subtle ways. There was an interesting direction of giving all the main characters a voice over piece at some stage in the film, but it was cool to see the inner workings of these characters.

Mark Wahlberg has always interested me as an actor, taking varied roles in movies (sort of like Nic Cage). His take on muscle-head Danny Lugo is humourous at some points and from the articles that I've been reading, pretty close to the actual guy.

Anthony Mackie has been off my radar and apart from The Hurt Locker, this is the only other film I've seen him in. I feel as though his character just got swept up in Danny's can-do attitude.

Fans of the Rock may be surprised to see a different side to the man. Dwayne Johnson plays an ex-con who finds religion in a big bad way, but soon reverts to his pre-prison days. Johnson really conveys the pain felt by his character when he has his crises of faith.

The techniques picked up by Bay on the Transformers movies really pays off. He knows how to use a camera and constantly uses excited angles and slow and fast motion to convey the action when it happens. All this with the beautiful surroundings of Miami make for a cool movie.

Verdict: Mark Wahlberg and Michael Bay make a refreshing team-up. If you like the 90s, you'll probably like this movie. Most of all, be a do-er, not a don't-er.