Arts & Entertainment

This Week at the Movies

'Pain and Gain' is an over-the-top crime saga from Michael Bay, while 'Mud' is a indie gem and 'At Any Price' is a solid farm tale.

Michael Bay’s latest, “Pain and Gain,” exhibits more of the former than the latter, but the picture is a welcome relief from the auteur’s “Transformers” films.  

For starters, I’m not sure whether Bay is poking fun at his oeuvre here or asking us to reconsider it. The picture is a stylish, violent and sleazy portrayal of the American Dream gone awry and a lampoon of American excess and greed.  

And yet, Bay’s previous films – the “Bad Boy” films,” “Armageddon” and the “Transformers” pictures – are the epitome of big, dumb American moviemaking that celebrate our culture’s excessive nature.  

In “Pain and Gain,” Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Anthony Mackie play three lunkhead bodybuilders who hatch up a numbskull plan to kidnap a loathsome deli tycoon and take him for all he’s got.  

For those not in the know, the film’s characters are based on a Miami trio who, in 1995, not only carried out the aforementioned scheme, but also killed and dismembered a porn king and his girlfriend.  

It should come as no surprise that the families of the victims are none too pleased with the film’s portrayal of the scenario as a comedy.  

Bay plays off several crime classics, utilizing the multiple voiceover perspectives of “Goodfellas” and the morons-in-over-their-heads tone of “Fargo.” But stylistically, the film is all Bay’s, from its use of slow motion, lingering shots on scantily-clad women and bombastic set pieces.  

It’s certainly not a requirement for me to like a story's characters to be able endorse a movie. Many of my favorite pictures from the past several decades are populated by unsavory people.  

The problem with the characters in “Pain and Gain” is not only that they are unlikable, but also not particularly interesting.  

While “Pain and Gain” may represent a change of pace for Bay, who is focusing on human beings this go-round rather than clunky robots, this film is not a career game changer.  

This past weekend, two significantly more subtle films dealing with crime were also released – Jeff Nichols’s “Mud” and Ramin Bahrani’s “At Any Price.”  

Nichols continues to prove himself to be one of the most promising new filmmakers on the American cinematic landscape. His previous movie, “Take Shelter,” was one of my favorite films of 2011.  

With “Mud,” Nichols has combined a low-key crime story with a “Huckleberry Finn” inspird tale involving two boys living on the Mississippi River.  

In the picture, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) is attempting to get his head around the fact that his parents are splitting up. He and his pal, Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), spend their days cruising the Mississippi in Ellis’s boat.  

One lazy afternoon, they stumble upon an island and discover a boat lodged in a tree, where a convict named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) is hiding out.   Without giving too much away, Mud is keeping a low profile following a dispute with a man who was involved with a woman named Juniper (Reese Witherspoon).  

The two boys begin aiding Mud in his quest to get the boat out of the tree and onto the water.  

But the film only lingers slightly on its crime angle – that is, until a surprising action sequence toward the picture’s finale – and focuses more on Ellis’s coming of age tale, which, of course, also involves a romantic interest.  

“Mud” is often sweet without being sappy and suspenseful without slipping over into thriller territory.  

All the performances are solid, especially McConaughey, who is in the midst of a major comeback following his roles in “Magic Mike,” “Killer Joe,” “Bernie” and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming “Wolf of Wall Street.”  

The film is a small treasure that is well worth seeking out.  

Bahrani, whose previous films include “Man Push Cart” and the Queens-set “Chop Shop,” returns with his latest tale of characters on the down-and-out.  

The picture, which fuses a farm drama with a morality tale and a crime story, follows Henry Whipple (Dennis Quaid), an Iowan farmer who wants his reckless son Dean (Zac Effron), a racecar driver, to take over the family business.  

But the family begins to crumble after an investigation into their business is launched and Dean’s racing prospects dissolve.  

Quaid delivers one of his best performances as Whipple, a guy who is often difficult to root for, but nevertheless compelling to watch.  

The actor uses his trademark smile to great effect. He’s a man who can charm when he needs to, showing up at his neighbor’s homes with a bucket-full of free Butterfinger bars, but not one you’re likely to trust.  

And Effron, who also appeared in last year’s semi-sleazy “The Paperboy,” has broken away from the teeny-bopper roles that marked his early career with his impressive turn as Dean.  

The picture’s final third includes a plot twist, of sorts, that nearly threatens the credibility of the story. But Bahrani pulls it together for the finale during which we see on the characters’ faces how they will have to live with the consequences of their actions.  

“Pain and Gain” is playing at Douglaston’s Movie World, while “Mud” is screening at Kew Gardens Cinemas and “At Any Price” is playing at Manhattan’s Angelika Film Center.  

“At Any Price” opens at Kew Gardens on May 17.


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