Another flick I wanted to see in the theater but missed out - boy am I glad I did, as this was almost unwatchable for me.

I think it's safe to say this is one of those movies that you're either going to love or hate.  I downright hated it and have to say I really struggled to not just turn it off and break the Blu Ray into many pieces.

$26 Million production from Michael Bay, which means, it is his cheapest production ever, other than 1995's Bad Boys.  Somehow, this thing turned a profit and banked $50 Million at the NABO.  No overseas release at all, which is very odd, considering the star power on display here.

I actually really like The Rock and Mark Walhlberg, but both were so grating here.  Actually, everyone and everything was grating and the tone was all over the board.

I think that's my problem here - the tone.  It's billed as a comedy crime flick, but the trailers didn't look that way to me.  It's also based on actual events, but the subject matter isn't remotely funny.  The film is very violent and violence and comedy just don't go hand and hand for me.

This is also a very long drawn out film that meanders here, there, and then somewhere else.  It clocks in at 2 hours and 9 minutes and I swear, I checked where I was after what seemed like an hour and a half and was shocked to see I still had over an hour to go.  Too long, too many different things and characters that had little to do with each other.

I can say this is a movie that I literally hate and have nothing positive to say about.  I thought it was going to be excellent, but looks can be deceiving.

Grade - F

I agree Pain and Gain did seem tedious in some points, but overall I liked it.  Yeah, there was a lot going on -- and I can't even believe this shit happened -- but I had a fun time watching it.  The Rock was probably the highlight for me, best part of the whole movie.

I'm not exactly sure why the filmmakers wanted to make this a dark comedy. There's nothing that says they couldn't have played it like a crime drama. Instead, everyone (but the character played by Ed Harris) is an idiot. One character - the stripper - supposedly was that dumb in real life. But I wondered why I wasn't laughing. I also wondered why the film lost pace when Tony Shaloub (the MVP in the film) and Rock were done with thier scenes. It seemed to a different story focus after that. There was also one fourth wall break ("this is still based on a true story") which made me curious as to what actually happened and if the muderous con men/bodybuilders were this dumb. I wondered if the the characters were seen from another characters point of view. But if that were so, it wouldn't be Mark Wahlberg's character doing the narration. It would be Harris, Shaloub or even The Rock doing the voice over. Since Wahlberg does the narration, then the POV would be that he is the Smartest Guy In The Room and the cops are baffoons when they catch him (there does seem to be a hint of this; but it isn't the bumbling cops that catch up to him)

Was the subject matter good enough for a movie? Yes, I think so.
Now, think of what would woulda happened to this film if you had the same actors, a more serious script and a director like...oh, James Foley, Curtis Hanson or Nicolas Winding Refn?

Never thought Michael Bay would direct anything this sluggish though. Usually I get vertigo from all of his films (save for The Island, maybe)

Yeah, the comedy angle was definitely lost somewhere, not very funny, a little cringe worthy sometimes. But I actually thought this was a pretty good movie. Style at every angle, Bay put a lot of effort into this to make it look sleek and original and I'd rate style as important as story in any movie. That's what I loved about this, it was just a fast paced, colourful blast of fun that was flawed in mostly every way. Not for everyone but it's a film that needs a watch. Definitely my type of movie. A solid effort from Bay, will be nice to see what else he holds when he breaks from his normal routine once more.

There were a lot more people involved in real life. The character The Rock played is literally a combination of three people. Obviously it's a movie so they took their liberties with the real story, as some stuff is very different.

Overall though, I had a hard time getting into this movie at first but when it got rolling after about 45 minutes to an hour, it got better.

I couldn't finish this one. Piece. Of. Shit.

I was looking forward to this.

This movie was way too long. These movies that have VO and many characters and are made up of many short scenes get very tedious and boring around the 40-50 min mark. There is so much happening and the movie keeps stretching out, it starts to drag on fast.

I didn't enjoy it.