PAIN & GAIN is a comedy by Michael Bay with a premise so outrageous that it has to be based on a true story. It's about a trio of muscle-bound freaks who get involved in petty crime and kidnapping, a path which quickly spirals out of control with murder and mayhem following. As a film it's really a mixed bag, one that suffers somewhat from having such a trio of unlikeable characters as leads. Wahlberg, Mackie and Johnson all work hard and are effective in the roles - much more than just slabs of meat, Johnson in particular - but the characters are at best moronic and at worst completely unpleasant. Still, at times it's quite witty and amusing, and there's enough outrageous to keep you mildly entertained, even if there's no depth at all.

Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg),Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson),and Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) are three muscle-bound idiots in Florida. It's 1995. Lugo is jealous of new gym member Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) and decide to kidnap him. They torture and rob him.

This is by far Michael Bay's best movie. Instead of the usual action, he directed his energy into an absurdest dark comedy. It is all fun as we laugh at the lead characters. We're told that this was a true story. Of course, some of the most absurd stories are true. This is the darkest of black comedy from an usual source.

The overwhelming sense I get from all the negative reviews on here is that the comedy in this true story is irresponsible and wrong. Well I think that's just a couple prunes trying to ruin a really good movie. I don't think Michael Bay set out or achieved any disrespect towards the victims. The absurd details of this case mixed with the excellent acting of the principal three actors create an extremely enjoyable movie with some laughs here and there. The editing is excellent and this movie should be rated at least a 7.1 One of the best if not the best movie Mr. Michael Bay has made. It deserves more credit.