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's why I wasn't invited to any early screenings of Bay's latest, Pain and Gain. A studio rep informed me that the filmmaker "did not opt for a Rolling Stone review." Ha. Like that's his decision.
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's too Hollywood even for Bay.
Confession: I harbored a mad hope that Pain and Gain, made for a scant $26 million (the snack budget on his Transformers 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'm here to report, that Pain and Gain is that film. It's dumb, shallow, deeply cynical and and creatively bereft.
-- Peter Travers, reviewing "Pain and Gain" in May 2013 Rolling Stone