Pain and Gain

I'll be honest. I think this movie only will appeal to a small group of people. I thought it had some similar elements to Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang from 2005. But that's just my opinion.

Pain and Gain directed by Michael Bay was an interesting film. Let's just say that. I loved it. Not at first.. but it grew on me. The humor is a little dark. But I like that. The characters were different. Not your usually crime movie, that's for sure.

Basically the movie is about Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg). He is a pretty average guy. Did some time in prison but works as a personal trainer now. Lugo isn't happy with his life though. He likes the way he looks, and he's a hard worker. But he thinks he deserves more. So he comes up with a plan to get what he wants.

He has a client, Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub), that is filthy rich and is a huge asshole. Lugo doesn't think that he deserves to have all that money so he pairs up with Paul (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and Adrian (Anthony Mackie) and kidnaps him. The plan is to break him and get him to sign over all of his money to Lugo, who will split it with the guys. Then they let him go and life is good. The problem is.. Kershaw figures out who Lugo is because he recognizes his "stinky" cologne.

The next flaw in their plan: Paul is a real softy. He is a big ol' guy who might have a bit of a temper, but he has a big heart. He bonds with Kershaw and, because he is an idiot, thinks Kershaw is his friend. Which allows him to let his guard down around him.

They do eventually get the money out of him. Then they decide they are going to have to kill him because he knows who they are. But none of them really want to actually do it. So, they decide to make it look like an accident. Using Paul, because of his close relationship with Kershaw, they get him drunk. Then they rig him up in a car, and cause it to crash. Kershaw doesn't die though.. because Adrian put his seat belt on. So, they torch the car. Kershaw still doesn't die. So they run him over, and leave him for dead. But he isn't dead. This is one lucky guy. Well, as far as survival goes. He's clearly drawn the short straw on everything else.

When the cops investigate Kershaw's incident. They don't believe his story. They think he was on drugs or something. So he hires a private investigator, Ed DuBois (Ed Harris). Ed sees his side of the story as crazy too.. but he looks into it. Joins the gym where Lugo works and has him as his personal trainer.

Well, by this time, the boys are running out of money.So they line up another job. This one really doesn't go as planned. And that's all I'm going to say. Even though I can't really spoil it for you since it's a true story and all the information is online. But, I encourage you to watch it.


The acting in this movie was surprisingly good. Usually I'm not a huge fan of Dwayne Johnson, but he really did a good job in this movie. His character was a different role for him, but not like Tooth Fairy different. He plays and emotional, cocaine addicted, really dumb, Christian. Which is just kinda fun to watch =)

This was also the first movie I have seen with Rebel Wilson. I'm impressed. She's pretty funny.

Now I'll admit, I don't know how accurately it follows the actual events. The story is interesting though. It's about three guys, who are not very smart, trying to pull off a kidnapping. Obviously, they mess up.

I'm sorry, I've been working on this review for ten days.. and it sucks. Haha. Go watch the movie and make your own opinion.

I give the movie an 8 out of 10.

Comments are appreciated. =)