Metacritic Movie Ratings
Pain & Gain Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 75

  out of 100

  Entertainment Weekly

  With Pain & Gain, his surprising true-crime comedy, Bay has finally decided to lighten up a bit.

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• 75

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRichard Roeper

  Even though Pain & Gain does indeed mine laughs from some very violent acts, there is nothing in this movie that glamorizes those three meatheads. Kudos to Bay and his screenwriters for making sure we’re laughing at them, not with them.

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• 50

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  A badly constructed, blood-spattered caper that comes unglued early on.

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• 50

  out of 100

  VarietyScott Foundas

  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.

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• 40

  out of 100

  Village VoiceCiara LaVelle

  When the story runs off the rails and crashes headfirst into a too-perfect ending, it's because Bay was led astray by the same things that got the Sun Gym Gang into this mess in the first place: superficiality, ambition, and the belief that reality just isn't good enough.

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• 20

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  The story is told in a hammer-on-anvil manner that evinces no gift for social satire or sharp cultural insight.

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• 0

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  Michael Bay's absurdist comedy is all pain, no gain and an utter monstrosity. It may be the most unpleasant movie I've ever seen, and I'm not forgetting "Freaks," which Pain & Gain resembles, come to think of it.

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