Discussing
The Christian Virtue in Pain & Gain

I might actually look forward to seeing this one, thanks for your insightful look at the film, and giving me a different way to look at it when I see it. :-)

http://forthisisthetime.blogspot.com

Hard to believe this sentiment was in a Michael Bay film, but there it was. Still, being slightly familiar with the real story, I was a little disappointed in the treatment of the Christian character. A few too many gratuitous jabs for my taste.

I'm not sure how closely Paul (The Rock's character) matches his real-life counterpart, but I do think it plays into this idea of cheating, or taking the easy way out. For Paul, religion is the "easy answer." He speaks the language, but we don't get a sense of any real spiritual discipline behind it (at least in the movie). And so it can work as another example of looking for a shortcut to a good (or in this case, peaceful) life. Now, I'll agree Bay takes a lot of potshots along the way, but I'll also admit that Stryper bit was pretty funny.

Fair enough. And yeah, the Stryper gag was pretty sweet :)

Had a very hard time with this movie. At the heart of everything seemed like a desire to make light of all sorts of things that are disgusting. They even tried to portray something as gruesome as dismemberment as something hilarious.

Great article, though. Thanks.

I can totally understand that reaction, Jermaine. On one level, the gruesome scenes you reference are played for laughs. Yet I also think that is the point where (some) people in the audience will have the laughter catch in their throat. For me it goes back to the overarching question about what we're willing to do to achieve the American dream. In their attempts to shortcut their way to success, these guys go from being dumb crooks to (SPOILER) heinous murderers. The gruesome parts put a damper on the movie's "joy" for me, and I think that's a good thing.

Agreed. As bad as it was, it got extremely worse around half way through. Then the last 1/4 got super ridiculous.

It's funny though -- the last 4 comedies my wife and I have watched have all been pretty crass (21 Jump Street, The Campaign (we walked out of it), Bridesmaids (not as bad as the others, but tough at times) and finally Pain and Gain. We're at the point now where we'll watch any other genre.

Interesting point on the "laughter catch". In the "Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" by Tim Challies, he talks about our hearts being truly revealed in those moments where we don't have a chance to process. I caught myself laughing at things where I didn't have a chance to think. That experience really put me on my butt to be honest.