Pain & Gain
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: April 26, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
20
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
New York PostKyle SmithApr 25, 2013
A dizzying lowlife saga that’s fast, smart, wicked, sort of ambitious and blazingly ironic. It’s as unpredictable as a Lindsay Lohan drive to the grocery store, as overstuffed as the pictures on Anthony Weiner’s Twitter feed and as hilarious as me on the bench press. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsApr 25, 2013
In telling a true story about hapless thugs who are the embodiment of Michael Bay fans, the director has made the most fiendishly enjoyable movie of his career. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 25, 2013
It's funny as hell at times with a twisted sense of humor that one typically expects from the likes of the Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezApr 25, 2013
This is easily Bay’s best movie, the work of a filmmaker with a cracked sense of humor that he is able to share with the audience. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 24, 2013
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. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 24, 2013
With Pain & Gain, his surprising true-crime comedy, Bay has finally decided to lighten up a bit. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinApr 28, 2013
Pain & Gain gives you a rush while at the same time making you queasy about how you’re getting off. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirApr 26, 2013
Michael Bay sends a clear message to those of us who've been making fun of him: He's been in on the joke the whole time. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissApr 26, 2013
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. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsJun 11, 2013
As ambitious and vibrant as it is ugly and scattershot, Pain & Gain is the most charming Michael Bay movie in a long while. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick SchagerApr 24, 2013
An outrageous based-on-real-life tale that's perfectly suited to director Michael Bay's insanely overblown stylistic and thematic temperament. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreApr 24, 2013
It’s just too much — too much graphic violence, too many plot wrinkles, too much stupidity, too many supporting players to track...For a movie as physically fit as this one wants to be, Pain & Gain is carrying way too much extra weight. Read full review
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