from the Facebook post I made the same night I saw it (April 25, 2013):
Pain & Gain Review: A+. It truly was a roller coaster. Intense. Driven. Funny yet depressing. Goofy yet serious. Stylish, energetic, and fast. Everyone left the theater like they would a rollercoaster: unsettled, yet entertained. But not sure how to describe it. They knew they enjoyed the ride, but they didn’t expect that slow descent into the very sad reality that all serious drug movies end on. It’s a movie about criminals, real life criminals, so it gets dark, very dark, like Goodfellas dark, maybe even Scarface dark. But you’re laughing all the way until they get what they deserve. It’s this weird feeling that you’re laughing despite know that this actually happened and what you’re seeing is really bad. But good cinema is supposed to evoke an emotion right? Well this movie evokes two at the same time. And it’s that mix that makes you unsettled, but when you look back on the experience, you’re glad you went on that journey. Go see it. It’s the most bold and unique movie you’ll see in theaters this year. (Rated R for violence, gore, nudity, and very mature content).
from Glenn’s Facebook response on April 26, 2013:
I’d give it an A because it was a well crafted movie, but not a family movie. Bay clearly has a macabre sense of humor. Why make such a dark story into a movie? Probably because the con-men tried 6 times to kidnap him (once dressed as a ninja), drove his car into a pole, and after he walked out on fire was ran over twice and lived. (That’s funny). The serious reality is these guys are no different than gangsters (and the film alluded to this) who are glorified by “classics” like Scarface and Godfather, but instead of glorifying these guys, Bay made them look like lunatics, sociopaths in a thoroughly entertaining but visceral, tragic, and realistic way (yes, disturbingly realistic even if fictionalized). That was a deliberate choice and for that, he should be commended because had he showed them as the dark moody characters of Scarface and Goodfellas, it would have been unwatchably disturbing, and a conscientious audience would have no reason to sit through the whole thing. The man knows what he’s doing.