I was pondering 1SO's rewatch of PAIN AND GAIN, something I have done relatively recently and had me thinking of my take the first time I had watched. I despised PAIN AND GAIN because I had a similar reaction as OK's to GOODFELLAS, I hated all the characters, everything done was despicable by everyone, and except for Ed Harris there wasn't really a single good guy in the film. And there were not really any exceptional bad guys, I guess if I'm going to embrace a bad guy I want to embrace a really good bad guy like Howard Hawk's SCARFACE. But when I think of Tony Carmonte and the other characters in that film and GOODFELLAS, they are bad guys who embody that American exceptionalism despite being socially outcast characters. Hawks seems to enjoy these ordinary, or socially fringe men, watching AIR FORCE recently with all kinds of heroes, but then there's Winocki. Hates the military, doesn't like the guys he's with, full of resentment and yet is redeemed through the trial by fire and band of brothers-type of experience that Hawks didactic approach gives us a newly minted good guy. Certainly Winocki is not Carmonte, and in SCARFACE Hawks gives the audience the disclaimer, hey this guy exists what are you going to do about it? But Carmonte is really the only likeable character in the film, the cops are crooked and cheats, the other guys are all bad guys, and even his strange relationship with his family is twisted. This type of character seems to live and breathe in the world and when I look at Whalberg's Danny character in PAIN AND GAIN, it's Tony again, just in a different, humorously depraved and despicable way. Tony, Danny, and Henry Hill are all seeking to escape the world they live in, a post-modern take on exceptionalism within these characters as they create hyper-realities of what it is to 'make it in this world'. The prison film about Miklo, BLOOD IN BLOOD OUT, is the Mexican-American version of this as he creates a suzerainty over gangs on the street and in prison, is the same outcast guy who uses his exceptionalism to become what Tony, Danny, and Henry all became/wanted.
My rewatch of PAIN AND GAIN has me in much more comfortable state with the despicable parts I couldn't stomach on the first rewatch, these machinations are the results of misguided, disorganized flux that exists within those seeking some sort of higher state through wealth, status, and power. In their own way simulacra of each other, but with something that does resonate with me, something that has meaning if I can put aside my morals and ignore things that I find reprehensible. These guys aren't RUDY, but they certainly have the same drive.