Nasty fact-based crime chronicle – set in the early 1990s – in which a trio of dimwitted bodybuilders (Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie) kidnap an abrasive but successful businessman (Tony Shalhoub) and torture him into signing over all his holdings to them. Thanks in large part to the efforts of a straight-arrow police officer-turned-private-eye (Ed Harris), however, their nearly successful scheme begins to unravel. In adapting a series of magazine articles by Pete Collins, director Michael Bay invites viewers to marvel at the he-men’s jaw-dropping stupidity. Yet their vicious antics, acted out within a lowlife milieu of strippers and porn pushers, are too repellant to be amusing, while snarky swipes at religion culminate in blasphemous humor and the character of a pervert priest.
Watch out for: Negative portrayal of Christian faith and clergy, brutal, sometimes gory violence, strong sexual content – including graphic sex acts, masturbation and upper female and rear nudity – drug use, about a half-dozen instances of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language.
Rated: O – morally offensive; MPAA: R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
