Famed Director Michael Bay (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2009) is at it once again with this semi-comedic drama accurately portraying Miami (in the 90’s) as a steroid-drenched house of mirrors, reflecting back the worst of us in various colorful characters. This includes Mark Wahlberg (Daniel Lugo) playing the kind of good-natured idiot who thinks he’s better than everyone, and is unflappable as he leads this impossible scheme, that only could be the brainchild of a drug-induced set of thought processes. Literally, this flick is all about watching a group of sociopath dummies screw up terrible plans and further ruining an already tarnished community’s reputation.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (Paul Doyle) completes the trio of knuckle-heads and is probably the most convincing of the group, as a total screw-up. I really enjoyed watching him play the muscle-bound dim-wit, that can’t seem to think straight due to excessive use of steroids and other drugs. This is a far throw from his normal role of being the sharp-witted super-hero type character that saves the world and his image at the same time. Equally, it is fascinating to see that this flick casts Tony Shaloub (Monk – TV series) playing the role of Victor Kershaw as one of the biggest pieces of garbage in the film. He’s gross from the moment we meet him, bragging about his money, rubbing his life in Daniel’s face every chance he gets and setting a tone that almost makes the viewer want to wish him harm. Anthony Mackie’s (The Hurt Locker, 2009) character feeds well off of Wahlberg’s energy, and I hope the two end up playing in another comedy together soon. Certainly not to be overlooked is the veteran actor, Ed Harris (Man on the Ledge, 2012). His role is perfect as the retired South Florida detective being relentless and busting the case wide open, even when the active-duty police department seemed to have dropped the ball on the case. Bay really tops the cast off with bringing comedians Rob Corddry and Rebel Wilson in to the fold and really added the off the wall comedic flavor to the film. READ FULL PAIN & GAIN FILM REVIEW >>