Pain and Gain - Movie Review

  Who's in it?

Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub and Ed Harris What's it about? Pain and Gain is the true story ('true story' being taken with a grain of salt as always) of Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) and 2 friends - Anthony Mackie (Adrian Doorbal) and Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson), a mix of primarily Carl Weekes and Jorge Delgado - as they kidnap Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) and try to convince him to sign all his assets over to them. Any Good? Pain & Gain was an odd one, starting out with Wahlberg's character spouting motivational lines and talking with his friend about how they deserve better in life. Then they meet Paul Doyle (Johnson), an ex-crack addict turned devout Christian who reminded me a bit of Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men at some parts, who himself is down on his luck after being ejected from staying at a church (you'll see why). With this they, 'they' primarily being Wahlberg, hatch a plan to kidnap Wahlberg's current client at Sun Gym and it all goes downhill from there FAST.    Think bigger, smarter and Christian-er I mustn't have been paying attention at the start, because I was really enjoying the film just taking it as a darkly funny crime film, then a good 3/4 of the way through the film it says STILL A TRUE STORY, and I had one of those Oh Shiiiiiii.. moments. As I said though, take that statement with a grain of salt as most of the time it means "we took this idea and blew it ridiculously out of proportion", but I've read about the true story and it seems to be just as strange. It's surprisingly well acted, Dwayne Johnson really showing that he can be a great actor when he wants, Rebel Wilson as Robin Peck was on comedic form as always, Tony Shalhoub really overacting his character but making it work) and Anthony Mackie pretty much providing comedic relief in the start of the film. The sad part is that Mark Wahlberg, while having his moments, was sort of ham acting and that really did let him down in some parts. Don't worry Marky Mark,you're still one of my favourites!! Honestly I did really like this and enjoyed it completely, even if it did take a while to get into it.I was surprised to find that it was directed by Micheal Bay, and the fact it was actual dialogue with actual words instead of "ummmm..BOOM" every 2 minutes. It was bright and reminded me of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which has gotten me completely pumped for GTA:V(sorry,the bandwagon just looks sooooo good..). I really did like this film, and I definitely recommend it if you're into fitness, true crime or just need to sink a couple hours into a really surprising Micheal Bay film, or, you can read the original article here. Either way, you can tell me what you thought of the film, if you agree or disagree, on Facebook, Twitter, or right here in the comments. The (sigh..) Eldest Gorgebag Rating?