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Trailer Hits For Michael Bay’s Pain And Gain

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I’d be called a liar if I said I wasn’t excited for director Michael Bay’s next film, Pain And Gain.

The film, starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson, the film is based on the true story of three trainers in Miami who attempt to win some money by kidnapping a wealthy man (Tony Shalhoub), but ultimately find themselves caught in the middle of something they hadn’t seen coming. A proto-passion project for Bay, the film allegedly costs nickels and dimes compared to Bay’s latest works, and based on this first trailer, the small budget appears to have inspired something we haven’t seen from Bay in years; a sense of humor.

Arguably his strongest suit early on in his career, Bay’s sense of humor has, over the years, gotten less and less interesting and more and more hammy, but thankfully, this film appears to have changed that. The trailer is fine, more of a mixed bag than anything, but the glimpses of greatness here (particularly the chemistry between the two main leads) really make me think Bay may be somewhat ‘back’ with this picture. There is a reason why films like The Rock and Armageddon are members of The Criterion Collection. Both films are really well made, and have such a distinct sense of humor, and in the latter’s case, heart, that we truly don’t have action films quite like them around anymore. Hopefully this fits the bill.

Source The Film Stage

Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.