Pain & Gain!!!!

Pain & Gain.

Straight from the mind of the Transformers and Bad Boys film franchise Michael Bay comes his low budget film Pain & Gain. Set in the US it sees a young Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) working as a gym trainer in a local gym, "my name is Daniel Lugo and I believe in fitness....." is his motto  as he thinks fat people are "unpatriotic". 

As Daniel wants to have alot more in his life he goes to a self help seminar presented by Johnny Wu (Ken Jeong) and soon enough adopts the new motto of "Don't be a dont'er, do be a do'er". Soon enough after training with one of his rich clients Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) he decides to put his new life plan into action. As Victor says to him "you know who invented salad, poor people" he finally gets that kick to become a doer. Roping in his fellow gym buddy Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) and new gym employee Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) they hatch a plan to kidnap Victor and steal everything from his life then dispose of Victor and live the rest of their lives rich and wealthy men. 

As the men steal everything from Victor they soon start to live the high life they'd been dreaming of, Lugo gains the house and lives a life of luxury. Doyle turns back to his old drug taking ways and soon party's and snorts his life away with his stripper girlfriend in tow. Doorbal meets Robin Peck (Rebel Wilson) his nurse treating him for impotency and they soon marry and move into a house together. Of course the money doesn't last too long for the boys and they soon enough hatch another plan to rob and steal from a sex phone business owner Frank Griga (Micheal Rispoli). 

What happens next for the trio is not what they expected, failing to kill Victor Kershaw, a slip up in handling Frank Griga, an old investigator Ed DuBois (Ed Harris) hot on their tail as well, something bad will happen soon enough.

The film in itself is something you feel as you watch is something that could not have really happened but it did. At the start of the film and certainly near the end when Doyle BBQ's cut off human hands your reminded that the film is in fact real which is shocking. The characters are well portrayed and Wahlberg plays Lugo with a sense of idiocy yet dertermination, Johnson plays Doyle perfectly the spiritual yet psychopathic man lost in a world of drugs. Mackie as Doorbal is a great addition as he brings in another idiot character who is strung along by Lugo and told of his potential fortune. 

Bay's camera angles are great from views down a gun, the front of a car and a distorted image of Lugo's muscle bound body in a swimming pool it's great. The sheer ludicrous scenes you see on screen just add to what is in my eyes a black comedy, real life portrayed film which shouldn't really work but it does. I can see it has a mixture of this years other releases, the sun kissed beautiful people heist from Spring Breakers and the true story of doing your own thing in life from The Bling Ring. And yet Bay has managed to bring these two elements together and make it feel like a comedy which is impressive. When Bay works on a small budget he can still bring the story and action and at times has shown he can certainly bring the black humour.

8/10.