At the centre of both of these films are sociopathic characters pursuing their wild dreams and destroying anything that comes in their way of achieving them. Daniel Lugo in Pain & Gain and Candy (Vanessa Hudgens) and Brit (Ashley Benson) in Spring Breakers are “Doers,” to borrow the language of Ken Jeong’s motivational speaker from Pain & Gain. They believe they’re special and use this belief to justify their actions, no matter how extreme. Other people have the resources and lives that these characters want. Instead of working to gain these things honestly, they merely set out to take them from others.

Lugo targets Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub), a wealthy Miami businessman, kidnaps him, and forces him to sign over his assets to Lugo and his pathetic friends, Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie). Candy and Brit insert themselves into the life of the pathetic rapper/gangster Alien, and acquire his goods as well as set their targets on the wealth of his gangster rival. Lugo ends up becoming a psychopathic yes-man. He’s so optimistic in his plans and so oblivious to how he’s hurting people, it's scary. Candy and Brit become angels of death, donned in their neon bikinis with SMGs. Lugo ends up in prison, but Candy and Brit drive off into the night in a sports care, still haunting the American Dream.

While the main instigators themselves are compelling characters, probably the most fascinating individuals in both Pain & Gain and Spring Breakers are the fools taken in by the instigators. Lugo, Candy, and Brit are stupid enough to believe their ludicrous plans will work, but they’re also smart enough to convince even stupider people to follow them.

In Pain & Gain Dwayne Johnson play Paul Doyle, an ex-con who became a Jesus freak in prison in order to overcome his crippling coke addiction. Johnson plays the character as a kindhearted beast, whose simpleminded gentleness contrasts harshly with the violent monster he becomes when he’s coked out. He’s usually Ferdinand the Bull, but wave a red flag in front of him (in this case, coke) and he’ll charge through you, no problem. When Doyle’s given the task of guarding Kershaw, he bonds with Kershaw over their shared membership in AA. He’s always hesitant to do any awful deeds, but he’s too dumb to refuse Lugo’s requests. He’s both victim and tormentor.

Alien in Spring Breakers is a kindred spirit to Paul. He’s a gangster rapper who spews street talk, but it’s soon clear he’s much less dangerous than Candy and Brit. There’s a brilliant scene where Alien shows the girls his bedroom and takes out his multi-coloured shorts: “Look at my shit! I got SHORTS! Every fuckin’ color!” It’s like a bizarre version of the scene where Jay Gatsby shows all his fancy shirts to Daisy Buchanan: the vapidity of the character’s dream laid bare. Alien is a fool, but he’s got grand dreams and he pays for them. His intensions aren’t pure, but there’s no doubt he’s the film’s most layered and sympathetic character.