It is the 90s on Venice Beach, the mecca of gaudy gym gear and bronzed perfection and we are following Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie, who play a group of personal trainers in pursuit of the American dream. And they’ll stop at nothing to get it.
I have to say Pain and Gain wasn’t at all what I was expecting after watching the trailer. In true Michael Bay style it was loud and over the top but surprisingly didn’t have too many explosions.
It’s based loosely on real events that took place between 1994-95. I was expecting a light hearted and funny story about body builders from the 90’s who robbed a rich guy. And in a way that’s what I got. But after a while the story gets dark and shit gets serious, a plot twist I didn’t see coming.
Despite this Pain and Gain was surprisingly funny. Rebel Wilson and Dwayne Johnson’s characters were both hilarious. I thought Dwayne Johnson was great as a lovable and naive meat-head, Paul Doyle.
I really liked the film’s narrative structure. Nearly every major character narrated a section of the movie. This gives you a chance to understand their motives that were, quite frankly, ridiculous. Which is probably why I loved them.
Mark Wahlberg was entertaining as ringleader, Daniel Lugo. The journey all begins when Lugo is inspired by motivational speaker Johnny Wu (Ken Jeong). Johnny Wu’s tagline is, “Don’t be a DONTER, do be a DOER”. With this in mind Lugo, Doyle and Dorbell (Anthony Mackie) set out to kidnap and extort one of their clients, Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub).
By the end of the film all the laughs have dried up and the glamourized world of crime comes to an eye opening halt.
Think action, drama and laughs. Think body builders and criminal masterminds. Think strippers and cocaine. Think glitz, glam and lycra. And there you’ve got Pain and Gain
It gets three-and-a-half bronzed gods.
