Pain and Gain

Rating: 7.5

Michael Bay does the Coen brothers, and mostly succeeds.  Pain and Gain is a welcome departure from the director’s usual action spectacles, applying his talents in telling a dark comedy about the American Dream gone wrong. 

Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie pull off tricky performances as the three incompetent leads.  They commit to their material by attempting to provide motive and reason for their dimwitted plot, which is where most of the comedy in the film comes from.  Their performances are effective in the way that they don’t seem to be in on the joke; they seem to have no clue on how dumb they are. 

The tone of the film shifts between satirical funny to darkly comic.  Cleverly, the film simultaneously employs and mocks Bay’s overblown directing style for a purpose.  You get the sense that the main characters think of themselves as part of a Michael Bay film as they engage in their dimwitted and morally corrupt behavior.  The camera goes along with them and the contrast is both darkly comic and highly critical.  Pain and Gain may be the most artistically interesting film of Michael Bay’s career.