The Contrarians140 - Pain & Gain

It’s so easy to make fun of Michael Bay, Filmmaking Bro Extraordinaire. On the other hand, it’s not so easy to fully engage with a truly challenging film in his oeuvre. Is PAIN & GAIN a misguided celebration of American stupidity, or a surprising cautionary tale about the dangerous allure of the American Dream? The Tomatometer can’t make up its mind, so it’s up to Alex & Julio to figure it out in yet another Gray Area battle!

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TIMELINE

00:00:00 - 00:01:15 Intro

00:01:16 - 00:17:31 Pain & Gain

00:17:32 - 01:12:42 Contrarians Corner

01:12:43 - 01:13:46 Inspirational Whalberg

01:13:47 - 01:20:22 Now on Patreon

01:20:23 - 02:07:22 Real Talk

02:07:23 - 02:10:47 The Future & Perennial Plugs

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Up next, September’s Bonus Episode was picked by Patron Ben Murray, and he’s making us tackle a movie we’ve brought up several times on the show: Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER! In the meantime, tell us what you thought of PAIN & GAIN! Is this Dwayne Johnson’s best performance or simply his most overrated? Did we really need to see Tony Shalhoub get a win at the end? And is this really the best Michael Bay can do for female characters? E-mail us at wearethecontrarians@gmail.com or tweet at us or facebook us and share your thoughts!