PAIN & GAIN (Michael Bay, Paramount, 2013)

After seeing PAIN & GAIN (Michael Bay, Paramount, 2013) I tried, I mean really tried to think of the good qualities I had seen in the film. I didn't have to think very long. Surprisingly, for a Michael Bay film, I was rather impressed by the performances given by the entire cast, particularly Dwayne Johnson. And that was all. Every other aspect I just absolutely hated. Michael Bay is a masterful director, one who knows how to stimulate audiences senses. But his films are too much. They are hyper kinetic and give the viewer a sense of impending disastrous overload. Finally, what this film says about the American Dream and how that dream has been subverted and bastardized is revelatory and in a way, quite sad. First the good. I think Dwayne Johnson is a good actor, I really do. His performance as Paul Doyle is multi-dimensional. Layered and nuanced he portrays a physically strong man but one tortured emotionally and spiritually, a man who loses his end game with his personal inner demons. To see Johnson go against type is a revelation. His portrayal of weakness is gripping. I applaud his efforts in the film as well as those of the rest of the cast. Tony Shalhoub is good as the immigrant success Victor Kershaw, Anthony Mackie as the confused and misled sidekick Adrian Doorbal and Mark Wahlberg gives another great 'dumb' performance as Daniel Lugo; a performance that reminded me much of his turn as Eddie Adams from Torrance. Finally, umm Bar Paly. Incredible. But that's it. After that I pull back and think of the film in cinematic terms and realize I disliked every aspect. Bay, as I said a master at stunning the senses, takes it up an extra notch here and the result is a hyper kinetic mash-up that doesn't just overload the senses it seeks to destroy them. The soundtrack, artfully selecting a great collection of 1990's hits, is loud and bombastic. The extensive use of slow motion becomes tedious as does the constant insertion of titles reminding the audience what is going on and who is who. These last two items serve to give us a continual reminder that we are watching a film, lend the film a great amount of self reflexivity BUT also show just how desperately weak the narrative and writing to the story is. SIX narrators? I couldn't believe they had (at my count) six different voiceovers working throughout the entire film. All this does is show the audience, me particularly, that the filmmakers don't give a shit about their story they just want to blast you in your seat, leave you too numb (and dumb) to care about what you just saw. In fact, NUMB & DUMB probably would have been a better name for the film. As I wrote earlier, Michael Bay is a masterful director. He knows how to visually craft a film better than almost everyone working today. He creates films that dazzle and entertain and most importantly SELL. But I always leave his films feeling saddened because I wasted another opportunity watching his films. He cares nothing for story and his films leave me raw, over-exposed and numb. Maybe this is his intent, but it gets harder and harder for me to justify seeing his work, to myself. Finally, the American Dream. And elusive concept, particularly since it is a concept that doesn't really exist to the masses like many think it does. This film effectively signals the death knell of that dream. It has become bastardized and perverse. In a way, the bodybuilders of Sun Gym are a perfect vehicle as protagonists to this narrative. Working hard and being big are not enough, being in great shape and happy are not enough. Steroids and using any means necessary to become even bigger are what it takes. Don't work hard, take the quick and easy path. Take a short cut. The fetishization of the male form comes into play quite often in the film and serves to bastardize what the audience is to expect. The films poster shows Wahlberg and Johnson in front of the American flag. The poster itself screams to us if you are big and muscular and take the shortcuts you too can have the cars, the girls, the money. Or what the American Dream has become. The film does an excellent job of showing just how distorted our way of thinking and acting has become, the only problem is I do not think this was their intent. This distortion comes up in a couple of different ways. First, the films protagonist is a criminal. Much like the gangster genre this film uses criminality as a way of achieving the American Dream, yet the film is not a gangster film. It doesn't follow traditional gangster mythology, it just shows us a portrait of a psychopathic killer willing to do anything to get ahead. Second, the perversion of the hard-working immigrant. The immigrant is portrayed as oafish, rude, obnoxious. He is out of shape and didn't 'earn' his money. The dichotomy struck between Lugo and Kershaw is striking. It's almost as if the film is saying; "look, as long as you look cool it doesn't matter what you do". And isn't this exactly opposite of what the American Dream is supposed to be? Where in that statement is hard work, saving and industry? It isn't there because that no longer resides as part of the elusive American Dream. When asked about the film after seeing it my response was simply "two hours I won't get back". That sums up the film perfectly. The film has very little of redeeming value to it, other than some good performances. Technically the work is good but the narrative and writing are not. In a way, like the bodybuilders of the narrative, is a perfect representation of postmodern film.