Pain & Gain

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Release Date: August 30th 2013

A trio of bodybuilders in Florida get caught up in an extortion ring and a kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong.

Director: Michael Bay (Transformers Trilogy, The Island, Bad Boys/2)

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rebel Wilson

There's a fair amount of expectation when it comes to a film directed by Michael Bay. Big explosions, bad-ass robots and an impressive budget to boot.

None of these occur in this summer blockbuster. The budget is a measly $26 million (Transformers: Dark of the Moon was a mighty $195 million). Pain and Gain relies on its crazy characters and even crazier storyline, which Michael Bay emphasises is based on a true story (adapted from a series of articles from the Miami New Times).

Wahlberg is Daniel Lugo, extreme bodybuilding enthusiast and manager of a gym. After attending a session by motivational speak Johnny Wu (Ken Jeong), he wants nothing more than to live the American Dream, and have lots of cash. 'Be a doer, not a don't-er' Wu says as Lugo looks on and lustfully laps it up.

Lugo's way of obtaining cash is by kidnapping self-made millionaire Victor Kershaw (Shalhoub) and forcing him to sign documents that will transfer all of his assets to Lugo.

His accomplices also have more muscle than they do intellect. There's Adrian Doorbal (Mackie) who's sexually imputent due to steroids, and Paul Doyle (Johnson), and ex-con that's turned to religion, but also a drugged up psychopath.  

The further the film progresses, the more bizarre it becomes. It doesn't stop when they acquire all of Kershaw's assets though. They want more, and that's where it goes wrong for them. Even though the next bust goes out of control, there are some neat effects that we get to enjoy. The first is a continuous pan through one room to another, showing us two events happening simultaneously as the camera enters cracks in the wall and smashes through door panels. The action that unfolds is not just odd, but amusing to say the least.

The second is the trio's attempt to hide the evidence of a double murder. It's comical and brutal watching them sabotage a coverup. They try to cut the limbs off of the bodies with a chainsaw and barbecue the hands so that there would be no fingerprints to trace.

Even by the credits, it's still hard to believe that this is based on a true story.

Overview: Michael Bay tones down on big robots to tone up the muscle and the crazy factor.