Pain & Gain - Review

Pain & Gain
(2013 - April 26)
Action | Comedy | Crime
2 hr. 9 min.

Rated: R Crude Sexual Content, Bloody Violence, Drug Use, Language Throughout and Nudity. NOT FOR CHILDREN it should have been Rated NC-17 in my opinion. Read more
Grade: D+
Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Christopher Markus (screenplay), Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Pete Collins (based on his magazine articles)
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie | See full cast and crew

From acclaimed director Michael Bay comes "Pain and Gain," a new action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie. Based on the unbelievable true story of a group of personal trainers in 1990s Miami who, in pursuit of the American Dream, get caught up in a criminal enterprise that goes horribly wrong. (c) Official Site

Pain & Gain is like a cinematic version of the Darwinian Awards, riddled with crass, crude, profane language and sexual references plus lots of barely clad buxom women, and plenty of sacrilegious humor. If none of that bothers you, you might just enjoy this film.

The audience in the fairly packed theater, where I saw Pain & Gain, certainly seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps it's just indicative of the type of audience this sort of film appeals to, but this audience laughed consistently at all the crude jokes and F words etc. As I often say, without all the profanity and crudeness they could have reached a much broader audience.

All that said, it is advertised as a crime/action/comedy and it does at times deliver laughs although the comedy is quite dark and at the same time appalling.

It is, to some degree, amusing watching how stupid these guys were/are, all the more amazing in that this is a true story about actual events of crimes committed by the Sun Gym Gang in Miami from 1994-1995. The old adage that truth is stranger than fiction applies here, while the bumbling criminal buffoons can be comical, at the same time it is horrifying that such heinous acts are being played for laughs.

Pain & Gain is effectively directed and staged by Michael Bey and the performances by the cast are adequate to good. I would like to have given this film a better grade, in that I can really enjoy a good black comedy, but because of the writing and directing for Pain & Gain chose to aim for nothing higher than the gutter, in good conscience, I just couldn't. This sort of 'entertainment' appeals only to a very limited audience.

Pain & Gain is a violent, offensive, "stupid true crime" story with no positive role models and few if any redeeming values which, to be fair, is often the case when portaging the lives of criminals and murderers.

Behind the scenes with director Michael Bey

 Cast

   Mark Wahlberg        Dwayne Johnson      Anthony Mackie   

    Daniel Lugo                       Paul Doyle                 Adrian Doorbal

 

   Tony Shalhoub            Ed Harris              Rob Corddry    

 Victor Kershaw                   Ed DuBois                        John Mese   

  Rebel Wilson               Bar Paly                 Ken Jeong   

    Robin Peck                  Sorina Luminita                 Johnny Wu 

Pitch Perfect - Review

Pitch Perfect
(2012)
Comedy | Music
112 Min.

Rated: PG-13
Grade: B+

Director: Jason Moore
Writers: Kay Cannon (screenplay), Mickey Rapkin (book)
Stars: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow and Rebel Wilson | See full cast and crew

The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory

Beca (Anna Kendrick) is that girl who'd rather listen to what's coming out of her headphones than what's coming out of you. Arriving at her new college, she finds herself not right for any clique but somehow is muscled into one that she never would have picked on her own: alongside mean girls, sweet girls and weird girls whose only thing in common is how good they sound when they sing together, in the new out-loud comedy Pitch Perfect. When Beca takes this acoustic singing group out of their world of traditional arrangements and perfect harmonies into all-new mash-ups, they fight to climb their way to the top of the cutthroat world of college a cappella. This could wind up either the coolest thing they'll ever do or the most insane, and it will probably be a little of both. -- (C) Universal

Pitch Perfect is Aca- Awesome!

This film is based on Mickey Rapkin's non-fiction novel Pitch Perfect.(buy it here) Rapkin, senior editor at GQ magazine, spent a season covering competitive collegiate a cappella. He followed the groups from Tufts University, the University of Oregon, and the University of Virginia, writing about the singing, groupies, partying and rivalries.

Pitch Perfect is lots of fun, irreverent, but fun. Pretty much nothing worse that you might see on regular broadcast TV. Anna Kendrick heads up the cast as Beca. She is good but for me Rebel Wilson steals a great deal of the show. She, with her self deprecating humor, is delightful, endearing and funny. Vocally the entire cast is superb. There are a lot of suggestive lyrics and dance moves (much like you would see on the TV show, Glee, or pretty much any rock or pop concert). Speaking of the obvious Glee comparisons, at least these actors look fairly close to the age they are portraying, as opposed to the 30-somethings on Glee pretending to be High School students. The popularity of Glee has made possible the the success of a new mo  Both shows showcase excellent singers and dancing. An added plus for Pitch Perfect is that you are not pounded over the head with the message that gays are morally and ethically superior as is the case in almost every episode of Glee.)

Pitch Perfect as a musical comedy is formulaic, with all the elements of dealing with familial conflicts, trying to fit in at college, dealing with roommates, first loves and just finding your place in the world and in life in general. Formulas are used because an original story is a pretty rare bird indeed. Formulaic in and of itself is not a bad thing but it can bog down a book, play or movie. In the case of Pitch Perfect...who cares if it's formula? The formula works. 

Pitch Perfect escapes the snare with the novel approach it takes on the formula, even though you know where the film is headed and think you know how it will end, because of the performances and the excellent singing you don't really mind knowing the outcome but are satisfied to simply enjoy the ride all the way to the end of the line. We all know how Romeo and Juliet ends and how the characters get to that end, but that doesn't mean that Frano Zeffirelli couldn't make an intriguing film about it (and no, I'm not saying that Pitch Perfect is in the same literary league as Romeo and Juliet). Incidentally, I have worked with Sir. Fanco Zeffirelli on two occasions once at the Met and once on screen, but that's another story for another time.

Cast

Anna Kendrick            Skylar Astin

Beca                                     Jesse

 

Brittany Snow             Anna Camp

Chloe                               Aubrey

Rebel Wilson          Adam DeVine

Fat Amy                        Bumper

It is pretty amazing the music that can be made by just the voice alone.