Pain & Gain

"It's telling that Michael Bay's notion of a scaled-down, pared-back movie experience is a dark, violent comedy bulging at the seams with testosterone. All of Bay's films exist in a glistening wonderland of toned bods and over-the-top action, and Pain & Gain has plenty of the former but little of the latter."

"Bay can be a master of exuberant chaos, but here the violence mostly lands with a sickening thud, which is fitting, one supposes, but also ultimately numbing."

"It’s M.B. business as usual: You’ve got your jacked-up, Jerry Bruckheimer–sanctioned aesthetic that jettisons all editorial coherence."

"It's like a giant sculpture that is so strange and off-putting, it's instantly, intriguingly post-modern. Swept up in the film's pile-driving self-assurance, even Bay-haters may absorb the pain to enjoy the gain."

"It all leaves you pondering whether you have just seen a monumentally stupid movie or a brilliant movie about the nature and consequences of stupidity."

"It makes for some stupid/slap-shtick fun of the Stooges variety."

"A ham-fisted, thick-skulled comic caper."