These guys can't do anything right, and some of the pickles they get into, and much of their dialogue - both internal and external - are highly amusing. (One wants to take his fiancée honeymooning "in Paris, or France.") But it takes writing at the genius level of "Cheers" and "The Golden Girls" to make "dumb" characters like Woody Boyd and Rose Nylund consistently hilarious, to add the layers of shading that elevate them above Johnny One Note. Bay's scribes, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, aren't in that rarefied air, and the film - bloated to over two hours - loses control of its violence as surely as do its protagonists. But the carnage, however redundant, is always watchable and is often presented with unexpected panache. I hope Bay will take on more passion projects like "Pain & Gain." Though it may be damning with faint praise, this is his most entertaining film by a mile.
Jordan Chodorow reviews movies on a scale of zero to four stars. Find reviews of all the latest releases here, along with a searchable database of all reviews from January 2012 to today.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Pain & Gain
These guys can't do anything right, and some of the pickles they get into, and much of their dialogue - both internal and external - are highly amusing. (One wants to take his fiancée honeymooning "in Paris, or France.") But it takes writing at the genius level of "Cheers" and "The Golden Girls" to make "dumb" characters like Woody Boyd and Rose Nylund consistently hilarious, to add the layers of shading that elevate them above Johnny One Note. Bay's scribes, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, aren't in that rarefied air, and the film - bloated to over two hours - loses control of its violence as surely as do its protagonists. But the carnage, however redundant, is always watchable and is often presented with unexpected panache. I hope Bay will take on more passion projects like "Pain & Gain." Though it may be damning with faint praise, this is his most entertaining film by a mile.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment