Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Rebel Wilson, Ed Harris, Tony Shalhoub, Ken Jeong
Directors: Michael Bay
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Release Date: August 27, 2013
Run Time: 129 minutes
Film: 3 out of 5 stars
Extras: N/A
This is definitely the year of Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson. Mark Wahlberg is hot off his hit comedy “Ted” and just scored on “2 Guns” with Denzel Washington. Dwayne Johnson has put thrown into every franchise in Hollywood and come out swinging. The combo of the two together really work well for this film. It is not what you would expect from Michael Bay but it is definitely a fun ride. In fact, it is quite dark and violent which I was not expecting. Packed with a fast pace, this film definitely draws you in and besides the leads it packs an awesome supporting cast. I would recommend this as a renter for sure. Come on you know you will watch anything with The Rock in it just like me!
“Pain and Gain” is based on a true story about a group of personal trainers in 1990’s Miami who are sick of being poor and set out in pursuit of the American Dream. When they decide to mess steel from businessman (Shalhoub). They get complicated and they get caught up in much more than they expected. The film is adapted for the screen by writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely from articles written by journalist Pete Collins. The film also Ed Harris (A History of Violence), Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine), Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids), Ken Jeong (The Hangover) and Bar Paly (The Ruins).
I think this movie didn’t succeed since when people think about Michael Bay, they just think about big movie with tons of explosions. That is not the case here at all. This quite a small film yet I appreciate Bay for trying something different. Paramount delivered this release in a combo back with Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy. As would be expected with a Bay film despite its size, the film look stunning with its 1080p high definition and sounds amazing with its completely amped Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track! But the fun stops there since this Blu-ray comes ABSOLUTELY bare bones in terms of special features. That is a real shock to be honest and disappointing.