Pain & Gain (Blu-ray + DVD)

Nice movie to see

SportieToi 12-25-13This movie told the true story of horrifying & sickening events in the way I prefer - drama/comedy... I say this because I don't like to see gory scenes in a dramatic manner; it's too heart wrenching!... I don't believe this movie trivialized the crimes of these men but instead candy-coated their crimes as a method of lessening the fear & sadness of the degree of evilness of criminally minded people...The racially degrading references to Black & Colombian men should have been omitted; I didn't care for them at all...Other than that, this was an excellent movie... It ended well, except all involved should have been sentenced to death or life...Viewers have stated that they cannot believe the degree of stupidity of the personal trainers, but I can... My disbelief lies in the fact that the victim survived and walked away from a car-crash, car explosion & being rolled over by a car...I'm glad he survived and am sorry the other two victims didn't have the same fate...I wonder if he ceased bragging about his wealth.12-26-13Addendum: Just watched the movie again - it was that good and I love watching "The Rock" - and I changed my opinion: I absolutely CAN'T believe how STUPID these guys were!!!!! LOL!

First of all I'd like to say I was surprised to find out that this film was based on a true story, with that said, I found this film to be entertaining, I thought it was funny, (cheesy in certain parts), Tony Shalhoub ( Victor Kershaw ) is one of the funniest actors I have ever had the pleasure of watching whether he's in the TV series Monk or some other film that has comedy. And he's a great actor in dramas as well, I literally was drinking a sprint and spat it out because of how funny he was, Anthony Mackie ( Adrian Doorbal ) who I've seen in other films. I never thought that he was as hilarious as he is, this film starts out with Daniel Lugo ( Mark Walhberg ) who is a fitness trainer and a wannabe entrepreneur and his scheme to become not only a wealthy, entrepreneur. But a somebody within the city where he resides. He gathers a team: Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie ), and Paul Doyle ( Dwayne Johnson ) to discuss the plan that he has for all of them to become wealthy and "somebody's" in the community of fitness, at first Paul needed to be persuaded to go along with the plan, after all are aboard with the plan. What comes after they've agreed, is a very entertaining film, the film held together and I didn't see any loopholes in the plot, if you're in for a good laugh check this film out.

The last year brought four films which, in different ways, deal with the same topic: amoral materialism run amok in today’s America. They are: The Bling Ring; Spring Breakers; The Wolf of Wall Street; and Pain and Gain. In my view, despite its brutality, crudity, and ugliness, Pain and Gain is the best. If you can stand it.Amazon’s customer reviews reveal roughly a 50-50 split. Interestingly, Rotten Tomatoes.com, which collects critic reviews on films, shows a virtual tie between the pros and the cons. The outraged negative reaction doesn’t surprise me. Pain and Gain is not a pleasant film. Many people were turned off by the raw language and sexual references. Others abhorred the violence. And others, oddly, despite all that sex and violence, were bored.That the Bling Ring was directed by Sofia Coppola may explain why it fared somewhat better with the critics--but not with Amazon customers--than Pain and Gain. That Pain and Gain was directed by Michael Bay no doubt hurt the film with some critics. (What if the same film been directed by a critical darling like Quentin Tarantino? Pulp Fiction overflows with both violence and crudity.)Pain and Gain isn’t a comedy. Overall, the mood is pitch black. There is simply nothing funny about graphic violence inflicted on even sleazy victims. Still, the film contains many absurd, laugh-out-loud moments, such as when the criminals botch the first kidnap attempt or when one of them fastens the victim’s seat belt before crashing his car. Or when head criminal Mark Wahlberg organizes a Neighborhood Watch meeting, after moving into victim #1‘s posh house.Other moments produce reflexive shock laughter, the kind we’ve all experienced in life.The film’s message about greed, the things people do for material gain, is bleak indeed. And, in this regard, the film is absolutely uncompromising and stark. Here we’re not dealing with Wall Street crooks or spoiled 20-somethings in L.A. Here the stakes are , great bodily injury, life and death.To Michael Bay’s credit, he does not play the murder scene for laughs. And he doesn’t prettify the three attempted murders on victim #1, though the victim’s resilience does produce shock laughter. (He does cross the line, however, when the males at the Neighborhood Watch get-together eagerly volunteer to role-play an attempted rapist. Not funny.)The writing is damned good, with a spot-on sense of real-life criminals. Prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, and judges can cite chapter-and-verse about criminals who overrate their intelligence, who turn on one another when the going gets rough.The cast is terrific. Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson (yes, he can act), Anthony Mackie (from “The Hurt Locker”), Tony Shalhoub, and Ed Harris.I’m not a Michael Bay fan. But he’s made good films before. (See, “The Rock,” selected for the elite Criterion Collection DVD series). He’s done it again. If you can stomach the violence and deal with the sexual references, Pain and Gain is well worth watching. Otherwise, avoid.

Another great true story.