Film: Pain and Gain

Director: Michael Bay
Genre: Action Comedy
Source: USA (2013)
Rating: R
Location/Format: Raleigh Theaters
Grade: B+

Who would have thought that the king of excess, Michael Bay, would have something interesting to say about excess in America? In Pain and Gain, Bay works out a cynical and searing depiction of the American Dream in the late 20th/early 21st century. And in the process, he may have convinced me that he knows who he is and what he's doing as a filmmaker much more than any Transformers movie ever got close to doing.

Like its bodybuilder protagonists, the film has nothing small or subtle about it. These are big idiots taking big actions in order to make their lives as big as they think they deserve to be. In order to make sure we get the point, Bay litters the movie with American flags and speeches about what it is to make it in America, but he really didn't need to. Mark Wahlberg's Danny Luco is a musclehead who believes in the value of work but, more than that, believes that he deserves everything he wants in life: money, girls, status, recognition, and a nice riding lawn mower. And he believes others don't deserve the same things, a belief he variously justifies through xenophobia, egotism, and just plain nastiness. So he decides to take away everything from one of the undeserving rich, an entertaining Tony Shaloub's Victor Kershaw. 

Of course, as in all heist movies (and this is a heist movie, though one that plays out in a different time frame than most bank-robbery movies), things go wrong, and as mistakes mount up, the films gains in freneticism, like a cocaine addict riding a high. Money disappears, people who should die live, and Wahlberg's crew decides to try for one more score, which of course is when all hell breaks loose.

The film is full of Michael Bay-isms: hot girls in little clothing, slow motion effects, people walking away from explosions. But for the first time I feel like Bay might be commenting on those things as well. The hot girl is an idiot, a pawn in the game of a smarter idiot. The slow motion effects are at times for meaningless shots like a man mowing his lawn. The explosion hasn't accomplished what it was supposed to, and not all the people walking away act nonchalant--the Rock's shoulder duck there is funny, but it also is a knowing nod to the audience at the absurdity of these characters who think they're really supposed to act like characters in a Michael Bay movie.

Oh, the Rock. The guy's got a great smile, and charisma to spare, but I've never seen him commit to a role like this one. His Paul Doyle is a happy idiot, a zealot with a naive heart and a talent for beating the crap out of people. Dwayne Johnson embraces the role with exuberance, allowing himself to look like a fool, even as he remains the only lead with some semblance of a conscience. In some ways, just as the lead characters are big brutish characters of American ego and empty strength, I think Johnson is a satire of the religious right in particular, muscle and righteousness that is all too easily twisted towards sick ends--and is too stupid to realize it. 

That sort of commentary is all through the film, and it disguises it in the trappings of a typical Michael Bay popcorn movie. It's a good trick, and if Bay were willing to use his slick visuals to more thought-provoking material like this, I would be excited to see more movies from him. 

Let's see, according to IMDB, up next he has . . . another Transformers movie. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Alternate Film Title: "The Adventures of El-dad and Pepe."