Movie · 2013 · Comedy, Crime, Action · 2h 10m · R · English
Curator score: 1.8/10 (433.7K ratings)
Their American dream is bigger than yours.
Overview
Daniel Lugo, manager of the Sun Gym in 1990s Miami, decides that there is only one way to achieve his version of the American dream: extortion. To achieve his goal, he recruits musclemen Paul and Adrian as accomplices. After several failed attempts, they abduct rich businessman Victor Kershaw and convince him to sign over all his assets to them. But when Kershaw makes it out alive, authorities are reluctant to believe his story.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.8/10
IMDb: 6.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.08/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 49%
Metacritic: 45
TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Michael Bay
Production
Paramount Pictures, De Line Pictures, Bay Films
Cast
Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry, Bar Paly, Rebel Wilson, Ken Jeong, Michael Rispoli, Keili Lefkovitz, Vivi Pineda, Christopher Jestin Langstaff, Gustavo Escobar, Corinne Ferrer, Zack Moore, Kory Getman, Peter Stormare, Larry Hankin, Tony Plana
Where to watch
Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A grotesque, high-energy crime comedy that turns a true Florida disaster into a savage satire of greed, masculinity, and the American dream. It’s messy and mean on purpose, but the cast, visual excess, and sheer audacity make it a memorable watch for viewers who like their crime stories loud and unhinged.
Best for
fans of dark crime comedies
viewers who enjoy outrageous true-story adaptations
people who like Michael Bay at his most maximalist
audiences open to mean-spirited satire
fans of sweaty, absurd ensemble performances
Skip if
you want a clean moral center
you dislike crude humor and violence
you prefer subtle filmmaking
you’re uncomfortable with cruelty played for laughs
you want a straightforward crime drama
Overview
Pain & Gain is one of those movies that feels like it was made by a director trying to turn a moral panic into a carnival ride. Michael Bay’s style is all over it: neon, chrome, muscle, slow-motion swagger, and a constant sense that everything is about to explode. That excess is the point. The film treats greed and self-improvement as a kind of deranged religion, and it finds comedy in how stupidly committed its characters are to the fantasy.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the cast’s commitment. Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie play these men as both ridiculous and strangely pathetic, which keeps the movie from becoming just a parade of noise. The humor is vicious, the violence is ugly, and the whole thing has the queasy energy of a tabloid headline stretched into a fever dream.
Bottom line
It’s not a balanced film, and it doesn’t really want to be. Some viewers will bounce off its cruelty and its adolescent worldview. But if you’re interested in a crime movie that weaponizes excess, turns America into a bodybuilding joke, and never stops escalating, it’s a fascinating, ugly blast.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Patrick Willems (4★) · 2159 likes
A pure artistic expression from a man who hates humanity.
Josh Lewis (4★) · 1426 likes
"If you're willing to do the work, you can have anything. That's what makes the U.S. of A great. When it started, America was just a handful of scrawny colonies. Now, it's the most buff, pumped-up country on the planet. That’s pretty rad."
Me in 2013: sorta like if Fargo was made by the ugliest, witless, most reprehensible human on the planet, whose tastelessly hyperactive music video maximalism makes very little satirical sense and instead just operates as a gruesome,… more
Awesome Welles (2.5★) · 1162 likes
On the basis of the Transformers films I used to believe that Michael Bay hated women, however having seen this film it turns out he hates people, full-stop.
Patrick Willems (4★) · 1059 likes
Do you think Wahlberg and the Rock even remember that they made this and were once this good in a movie?
Bryan Espitia (4★) · 725 likes
The Rock needs to stop making generic Netflix movies and go back to playing sweaty coked-out religious fuckups who grill severed hands.
2013 · Crime, Drama, Comedy · 3h · R · Curator 7.9/10 (5.7M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, AMC+, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Shares the same gleeful contempt for greed, masculinity, and self-mythology, with a similarly manic comic energy.
1998 · Crime, Drama, Thriller · 2h 1m · R · Curator 8.0/10 (147.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A darker, more grounded study of ordinary people destroyed by greed and bad judgment.