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"&lt;p&gt;The four words that can chill this movie critic to the bone are: Directed by Michael Bay. Remember, this is the guy who depicted the attack on Pearl Harbor from the point of view of the bomb. Maybe that&amp;apos;s why I wasn&amp;apos;t invited to any early screenings of Bay&amp;apos;s latest, &lt;em&gt;Pain and Gain&lt;/em&gt;. A studio rep informed me that the filmmaker  &amp;quot;did not opt for a &lt;em&gt;Rolling Stone&lt;/em&gt; review.&amp;quot;  Ha. Like that&amp;apos;s his decision.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;wm:embed type=\"related\"&gt;&lt;/wm:embed&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, heading to my local multiplex, I laid down 12 bucks for a ticket. For a second, I worried that Bay might have sent Optimus Prime to the box office on orders to crush me, but that&amp;apos;s too Hollywood even for Bay.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;Confession: I harbored a mad hope that &lt;em&gt;Pain and Gain&lt;/em&gt;, made for a scant $26 million (the snack budget on his &lt;em&gt;Transformers&lt;/em&gt; films), might actually show a different side to this filmmaker. He once claimed he wanted to make a small, personal film that would reveal the real Bay.  And, I&amp;apos;m here to report, that &lt;em&gt;Pain and Gain&lt;/em&gt; is that film. It&amp;apos;s dumb, shallow, deeply cynical and and creatively bereft.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pain and Gain&lt;/em&gt; is a true story, sort of. The script by  Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely is based from a series of Pete Collins articles, originally published in the &lt;em&gt;Miami New Times&lt;/em&gt;, about the Sun Gym gang. In the mid-1990&amp;apos;s these dim-bulb Florida bodybuilders, led by gym manager Danny Lugo (Mark Wahlberg), came up with something rare for them (and Bay) &amp;#x2013; an idea. Kidnap and extort a rich client, Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub). To help, Danny brings in two besties: personal trainer Adrian (Anthony Mackie) and ex-con  Paul  (Dwayne Johnson), an alcoholic recovering with the help of Jesus. It&amp;apos;s a promising story that deserved more than a Bay botch job. Good actors are trapped in Bay&amp;apos;s toxic bubble, forced to make farce out of a scary, real-life situation. In between scenes of the muscleheads torturing their victim, Bay indulges his taste for treating women as sluts and grisly brutality as a nifty excuse for a cheap  laugh. &lt;em&gt;Pain and Gain&lt;/em&gt; is personal all right. You leave these characters with the distinct impression that they&amp;apos;re Bay&amp;apos;s kind of people. But I did learn something from &lt;em&gt;Pain and Gain&lt;/em&gt;. The next time Bay bars me from  screening, I&amp;apos;ll realize he&amp;apos;s really doing me a favor.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/pain-and-gain-20130502>