Mark Wahlberg’s “Spectacular” & “Fast-Paced” Crime Thriller With “Great Action” Lands a New Streaming Home

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Mark Wahlberg’s excellent but often overlooked crime thriller, Pain & Gain, is now available on a new streaming service. Both Wahlberg and his co-star Dwayne Johnson are famous for their intense fitness routines, and Wahlberg pushed himself to the limit physically for this 2013 film. Alongside Johnson and Anthony Mackie, Wahlberg got into incredible shape to star in the movie.

You can now watch Pain & Gain on Paramount+. This Michael Bay-directed film is based on the real story of a group of bodybuilders in 1990s South Florida, known as the Sun Gym gang. Mark Wahlberg plays Danny Lup, the gym manager who comes up with a plan to get rich fast through blackmail. He enlists the help of two fellow bodybuilders, Paul (Johnson) and Adrian (Mackie), and together they kidnap a wealthy man, hoping to steal all his money. Here’s what the movie is about:

In 1990s Miami, Danny Lupo (Mark Wahlberg), who runs the Sun Gym, decides the quickest way to get rich is through blackmail. He enlists the help of bodybuilders Paul (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian (Anthony Mackie) to carry out his plan. They eventually kidnap wealthy businessman Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) and force him to give them all his possessions. However, when Kershaw escapes and reports the crime, the police are skeptical of his claims.

While not as popular as some of Michael Bay’s bigger hits like The Rock, Pain & Gain was a definite improvement over Transformers: The Last Knight. The film received mixed reviews, scoring 49% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 47% from audiences. Viewers had strong opinions – one called it “one of the best films ever,” praising its pace, action, and story, while another simply called it “very entertaining” and highlighted Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s performance.

What’s Next for Michael Bay?


Paramount Pictures

It’s hard to know which of Michael Bay’s many potential projects will actually happen. He’s currently making a Skibidi Toilet movie, but he’s also been considering sequels to some of his older films, and it’s unclear if those will move forward. It’s a bit like trying to follow Dwayne Johnson’s fitness plan – there’s always something new in the works!

Michael Bay was originally set to direct a new Bad Boys movie for Netflix, featuring Will Smith, but he’s no longer involved. The Transformers films attempted to move forward without Bay, but after Transformers One didn’t do well in theaters last year, Paramount is now considering bringing him back to direct another Transformers movie.

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2025-11-10 17:06