Pain and Gain is a preposterous true story that follows the real life exploits of a group of men who kidnapped a prickly, but rich, playboy, tortured him, and then forced him to sign over all of his valuables effectively making them rich. The narrative at the heart of it is too out-of-control to not be seductive but director Michael Bay lets down this inherently strong story with some elementary filmmaking missteps.

The ragtag crew at the center of this real story is led by Danny Lugo, a meathead with delusions of grandeur who is played perfectly by an aloof yet manipulative Mark Wahlberg. This is a man whose muscles outweigh his brain ten-to-one, who possesses a ridiculous entitlement complex and sees the American Dream as something indebted to him rather than something to strive for.

Lugo cons fellow gym-rats Paul Doyle and Adrian Doorbal into kidnapping some rich guy that no one will ever miss (due to his unpleasant demeanor) and extorting him for all he’s worth. The craziest part of this true story is that they actually got away with it. However, when you give a mouse a cookie, he’s gonna want a glass of milk and their taste of success in the criminal racket doesn’t cut it for too long.

Looking at the film from an actor’s perspective, the thing is a big hit. These characters at times seem downright evil and yet there is no judging from the actors. They play their characters with tactful understanding and a lack of discrimination. Honestly, I think that this is the first time that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson actually made a thespian contribution to a film rather than relying on yet another tough guy persona and boundless muscles to portray some semblance of character. If anything, Johnson is our moral compass – a deeply skewed moral compass yes, but certainly the most ethical of this depraved trio. It’s great to see Johnson come out of his shell and embrace a more complex character than we’re used to seeing and his bouncing back and forth between cocaine-addled-vice and Jesus-inspired-virtue easily makes him the film’s most interesting character.

Aside from the pleasantly surprising acting, there are far too many noticeable no-no’s from the book of directing 101 that really seemed to cash in on the “pain” portion of the title. Sure, Michael Bay has never misrepresented himself as an aspiring auteur or award seeker but what he does champion himself as is a maestro of entertainment. He’s contend making sugary flicks with robots pounding on each other and for the most part, his films are entertaining. However, when his directorial choices stand as a barrier to entertainment, he needs to step back and reconsider what exactly he’s trying to prove.

First off: cut back on the voice-overs. It’s one thing to introduce the protagonist by allowing the audience to listen in on their thoughts but when you’re using it for nearly every character, not only as a method of introduction but for every major moment of revelation, you know that you need to go back to the cutting room. Voice over is seen as a storytelling crutch for a reason. Instead of earning the audience’s understanding, it is forced upon them.

I understand that Bay wants to cut to the essence of who these people are but to rely solely on VO for exposition shows a major lack of talent in the scripting department. The adage “show, don’t tell” would apply nicely here. Bay truly was sitting on a gold mine of a true story with Pain and Gain which is probably why it’s so interesting and yet it’s impossible to ignore that it could have easily been told in a better way sans all the flashy freeze frames and gratuitous use of inner monologue.

Missteps aside, it is clear that Bay tries to transcend the big action spectacle films that make up his resume and fashion a satirical story about greed and a skewed perspective of the American Dream. He keeps all his iconic Bay hallmarks and lets them loose here. The boobs are bigger, the muscles larger but here the violence has consequences, producing more of a feeling of unease than smarmy shoot-em-up bliss. While it seemed like Bay aimed for satirical black comedy, the knowledge that this is a true story makes the whole affair much more disturbing and ultimately limits the laughs.

Of the dubious trio in the the film, their hubris is matched only by their stupidity. Dare I say the same of Michael Bay? These men have been distorted and tainted by a desire for unattainable opulence and an imaginary sense of entitlement that seems to come just from being American. Is this Bay pointing the finger at wealth and celebrity in America or am I just reaching for straws to make this more than what it is?

Even though Pain and Gain is maybe Bay’s most mature film to date and he legitimately tries to dissect an nearly incomprehensible ethos,  his own over-embellishing and tacky directorial choices diverts attention from the actual story that is already so rife with drama. Instead of just letting it play out, Bay condescends to the audience with all his unneeded cues, acting like we’re the ones who can’t keep up with the story when it’s actually him who is letting it escape his grasp. Fortunately, the story is strong enough and the acting powerful enough to overlook most of its structural problems and make this a rather entertaining bit of cinema reality.