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Pain & Gain
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Wikipedia article
'Pain & Gain' is a 2013 American action comedy film directed by Michael Bay and starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie. It is based on the activities of the Sun Gym gang, a group of ex-convicts and bodybuilders convicted of kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder in Miami in the mid-1990s. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely's screenplay is adapted from a 1999 series of 'Miami New Times' articles by Pete Collins, which were compiled in the book 'Pain & Gain: This Is a True Story', released concurrently with the film. The film's title is a play on a common adage frequently used in fitness: "No pain, no gain".
Released on April 11, 2013, 'Pain & Gain' received generally mixed reviews, praised for its script but criticized for the violence, directing, and historical inaccuracies. Against a $22 million budget, the film grossed $86 million worldwide. Sun Gym gang victim Marc Schiller (depicted in the film as 'Victor Kershaw') sued the production company over his portrayal.
Plot
In October 1994, ex-con and bodybuilder Daniel Lugo is hired by Sun Gym owner John Mese as a manager. Lugo befriends trainer and bodybuilder Adrian Doorbal, rendered impotent from steroids. He envies the earnings and lifestyle of Victor Kershaw, a member he begins to train. Motivational speaker Jonny Wu inspires him to be a "do-er," so Lugo plans to extort Kershaw for his assets through kidnapping and torture.
Lugo recruits Doorbal and Paul Doyle, another ex-con and born again-Christian struggling with drug use. Doyle eventually joins the team after being kicked out of his halfway house after assaulting a priest who made a sexual pass.
The "Sun Gym gang" kidnaps Kershaw, taking him to a small warehouse. Although disguised, Kershaw identifies Lugo; otherwise, the scheme goes as planned: he makes calls, under duress, to provide false explanations for his disappearance, gets his family to move out of state, and signs documents that transfer his assets to Lugo. John Mese is even bribed to notarize documents in Kershaw's absence.
After the gang collects Kershaw's money and assets, Lugo concocts a plan to kill him by forcing him to drink liquor and crash his BMW, an apparent drunk driving accident. He survives the crash, so they burn the car with him in it. Kershaw escapes the blazing vehicle, so they run over his body twice, leaving him to die. However, Kershaw survives and is hospitalized.
The gang members spoil themselves with Kershaw's riches. Lugo takes over his car and his home in a Miami suburb; Doorbal marries the nurse, Robin, who has been treating his impotence and using his cut for penile erection treatments; and Doyle abandons his restraints of religion and sobriety, blowing his money on cocaine and his new stripper girlfriend.
Kershaw reports what happened to the police, but his unpleasant manner turns them off. They do not believe his bizarre story even when given Daniel Lugo's name, particularly because of Kershaw's blood alcohol level and because he is from a South American country known for drug trafficking. He contacts Ed Du Bois, III, a retired private investigator - who at first declines to take the case but warns Kershaw to leave the hospital before they return to kill him. Kershaw takes his advice by hiding in a cheap motel. Du Bois finally takes the case, tailing the Sun Gym gang. He visits the gym and meets Lugo, who becomes suspicious after Du Bois mentions Kershaw.
Kershaw furiously calls Mese about his stolen money, and Lugo, Doyle, and Doorbal *69 the call, identifying the motel where it originated from, and go to kill him; however, he has already checked out. Lugo and Doorbal discover that Du Bois is paying for Kershaw's room, so plan to kidnap him at his home. The plan is abandoned, however, when police drop him off.
Du Bois gets a message from Kershaw, going to the stadium to take him home. Meanwhile, both Doyle and Doorbal tell they need more money, so they plan another kidnapping. (Doyle botches an armored car robbery after going broke, Doorbal's share was spent on treatments, his wedding to Robin, and a new home.)
Targeting Frank Griga, owner of a phone sex operation, after a promising discussion at his mansion, the gang invites him and his wife Krisztina Furton to Doorbal's to outline an investment scheme. There, he requests a board meeting before making any investing, calling Lugo an amateur and angering him. A physical fistfight ends when one of Doorbal's weights falls on Griga's head, killing him instantly. Krisztina then tries to shoot Lugo, but Doorbal injects her with a potent tranquilizer. When she tries to escape, he accidentally kills her with a second injection.
They dismember them, disposing of the bodies in a swamp. Doyle, perturbed by the violence he committed, leaves the gang and returns to the priest's church. The police learn of Griga and Krisztina's disappearances, and with evidence from Du Bois, they plan to arrest the Sun Gym gang.
The police arrest Doyle at the church, Doorbal at home, and Mese at the Sun Gym while Lugo escapes, in a sequel to the film's first scene. Lugo flees in Kershaw's speedboat. Deducing Lugo is going after the bank account in Nassau, Bahamas, the police rush to capture him at the bank. He escapes again, but this time Kershaw runs him over, and he's finally arrested.
At the trial, Doyle rolls over Doorbal and Lugo with a full confession, and Robin divorces Doorbal the night before to testify against him. Ultimately, the four are convicted.
The end credits reveal the fates of the main characters:
* Daniel Lugo, sentenced to death, plus 30 days for "being an asshole" to a guard.
* Adrian Doorbal, sentenced to death.
* Paul Doyle, sentenced to 15 years (for his full confession), served seven years, converted back to Christianity.
* John Mese, sentenced to 15 years (died in prison).
* Marc Schiller's name was changed in the film to "Victor Kershaw" to protect the survivor.
* Sabina Petrescu's name was changed in the film to "Sorina Luminita" to protect the survivor. Sabina Petrescu is currently not a movie star.
Cast
Production
Michael Bay first announced the film after the release of 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' (2009). Bay stated he wanted to do 'Pain & Gain' between the second and third 'Transformers' films. The project was put on hold when Paramount gave the third film, 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon', a 2011 release date.
On February 13, 2012, it was confirmed that the budget for the film would be funded by Paramount Pictures as part of a two-picture deal with Bay, and the budget would be $35 million, making it the cheapest film he has ever directed, since his first feature film 'Bad Boys' (1995), thanks in part to Bay, Johnson, and Wahlberg not taking salaries. They instead signed on in exchange for back ends on the film's profits. Bay later confirmed that production would begin in Miami the following April, stating: "I'm extremely excited to simplify my film career this spring with a great character piece." On February 17, reports surfaced that Ed Harris had officially joined the cast and Rob Corddry was rumored to play John Mese, a former competitive bodybuilder who now owns the gym where Wahlberg's character works as a personal trainer. On February 23, it was confirmed that Anthony Mackie had joined the cast as "a bodybuilder and workout partner of Wahlberg's character Adrian Doorbal, who has little to show for his time in the gym and decides to get involved with the twisted plan."
On February 28, 2012, it was reported that Israeli model Bar Paly and Lebanese-American actor Tony Shalhoub had joined the cast. Paly is cast as "an illegal immigrant and former beauty queen who dreams of becoming the next Marilyn Monroe. Wahlberg's character promises to make her a star, and she in turn agrees to do whatever he asks in the service of her new country." Shalhoub's role in the film is that of "Marc Schiller, the target of the kidnapping scheme." On March 5, it was reported that Scott Rosenberg was brought on board to punch up the script. Rosenberg had worked with Bay previously on 'Armageddon' (1998). In a statement on March 7, Bay reported the budget was $22 million and said he was taking director's scale for the film.
On March 27, 2012, Rebel Wilson joined the cast as Robin Peck, and principal photography began in Miami on March 31, 2012. On April 4, Dutch actress Yolanthe Sneijder-Cabau joined the cast as Wahlberg's character's object of desire. On April 5, Ken Jeong joined the cast as a character named Jonny Wu. The official trailer for the film was released on December 19.
Steve Jablonsky who worked with Michael Bay in his previous films, has composed the film score. Varese Sarabande has released the soundtrack.
Reception
'Pain & Gain' received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 50% rating, based on 204 reviews, with an average rating of 5.40/10. The site's consensus reads, "It may be his most thought-provoking film to date, but Michael Bay's 'Pain & Gain' ultimately loses its satirical edge in a stylized flurry of violent spectacles." Metacritic gave the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on reviews from 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by Cinemascore gave the film a grade of C+.
British critic Mark Kermode described the film as "grotesquely inappropriate" and "every bit as pumped up and steroidal as the appalling characters it is attempting to portray".
Scott Foundas of 'Variety' writes" "the violence mostly lands with a sickening thud, which is fitting, one supposes, but also ultimately numbing." Philip French writing for 'The Observer' said of the violent black comedy that he "rather enjoyed it" with particular praise for Ed Harris. Referring to the movie as "a Bay botch job", 'Rolling Stone' gave the film 1/2 star out of 4, noting: "he (director Bay) once claimed he wanted to make a small, personal film that would reveal the real Bay. And, I'm here to report, that 'Pain and Gain' is that film. It's dumb, shallow, deeply cynical and creatively bereft." Simon Abrams writing for RogerEbert.com gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars.
Real-life outcomes
Francisco Alvarado's 'Miami New Times' article, "Pain & Gain: Where the Real-Life Sun Gym Gang Characters Are Now" (April 4, 2013), details the actual crimes, the real-life gang members sentences, and the characters' post-trial experiences and current status.
Additionally, the Florida State Commission on Capital Cases publishes and regularly updates the trial summaries, court information, and information about the offenses, criminal sentences, and post-trial legal and prison developments for defendants. This information is cross-posted with that of the Florida Department of Corrections, Prison Offender Network, which posts regularly updated Inmate Population Information Detail and the Death Row Roster. Details from those sources pertinent to the Sun Gym gang are summarized below:
* Noel "Adrian" Doorbal (DC# M16320, DOB: December 21, 1971, Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Dade County Case # 95-17381-B); Sentenced to death July 17, 1998. Currently incarcerated in Florida State Prison, awaiting appeal.
* Daniel Lugo (DC #M16321, DOB: June 4, 1963, Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Dade County, Case# 95-17381C); Sentenced to death July 17, 1998. Currently incarcerated in Florida State Prison, awaiting appeal.
* John Mese (DC# M15699): "Mese was indicted on October 2, 1996 (Case# 95-17381-F) for the kidnapping, extortion, and murders of Griga and Furton and the kidnapping and extortion of Marc Schiller. A jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment; however, the judge set aside the convictions pertaining to the Griga/Furton crimes. On July 20, 1998, Mese was sentenced to 56 years imprisonment for the kidnapping and extortion of Schiller. Mese appealed and the State cross-appealed the sentence to the Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District. On 06/19/02, the DCA ruled that the trial judge improperly set aside the two RICO convictions and ordered a new sentencing hearing to be conducted on those counts. On January 15, 2003, Mese was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment for one count of Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering. In 2004, Mese died in prison from a stroke."
* John Raimondo (DC# 198195): "Raimondo was indicted on October 2, 1996 (Case# 95-17381-I) on one count each of Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering, First-Degree Murder (Furton), Kidnapping (Furton), and Attempted Extortion. The State declined to prosecute all but the kidnapping charge, and Raimondo was convicted and sentenced to eight years imprisonment for the crime."
* Jorge Delgado (DC# 198219): "In return for testifying for the State, Delgado was sentenced to two prison terms of 15 and 5 years for his role in the murders of Griga and Furton and the attempted murder of Schiller."
Slash Film reporter David Chen shares a real-life twist related to Marc Schiller (portrayed onscreen as Victor Kershaw) that was excluded from the film: "The Schiller Twist Reading through Pete Collins' 'Pain & Gain' story, I thought I had a pretty good handle on the direction it was going in. I was shocked to discover that at the end, in an M. Night Shyamalan-like twist, the Kershaw character is arrested immediately after he testifies against the Sun Gym gang and charged with a fraudulent Medicare scheme that generated $14 million. It's stunning and a little bit heartbreaking. As Collins writes, '[A]ll he could think was that [the State Attorney General] had sold him out. For three years she had used him, forced him to relive every excruciating detail of his confinement: the starvation, the burns and electric shocks, the beatings, the abject terror, the absolute physical and psychological mortification. She had extracted everything she could, and then she had disposed of him.'"
Comparisons between the film and actual events
Multiple media properties compare and contrast details shown in the film versus actual events. 'History v. Hollywood' also shows the headshot photograph, name, birthdate, and birthplace of the principals in a "Reel Face" v. "Real Face" lineup. As David Haglund and Forrest Wickman wrote in 'Slate's culture blog, 'Browbeat': "the film more or less adheres to a very rough outline provided by the novella-length, three-part, highly detailed series written by Pete Collins and published in the 'Miami New Times' over a decade ago. Not surprisingly, many details, and a number of significant characters, are dropped from the movie. A lot of new, fictional detail and one largely made-up character takes its place. When the movie first tells us that it's a true story, we're seeing something that didn't happen. When we're told it's 'still a true story,' we're watching one invented character watch a semi-fictional character do something that sorta kinda took place."
The film portrayed the Sun Gym gang as consisting of three primary members: the Irish-American Daniel Lugo, African-American Adrian Noel Doorbal, and Samoan/African-American Paul Doyle; and two accomplices (John Mese, the Sun Gym owner and Miami Shores accountant who notarized Kershaw's in reality, Marc Schiller's documents for Lugo; and stripper Sorina Luminita - based on Sabina Petrescu - whom Lugo claimed to have recruited to serve as the gang's 'femme fatale'). In reality, the gang was much larger, Daniel Lugo was of Puerto Rican descent, Noel Doorbal was a native of Trinidad, and Doyle's character is a composite of several real life individuals of different nationalities who were not depicted in the film, such as Carl Weekes, Jorge Delgado, and Stevenson Pierre. Additionally, Doorbal's real-life girlfriend (Cindy Eldridge) helped scrub blood off Doorbal's condominium walls after Doorbal had dismembered Griga and Furton's bodies. Unlike Sorina, who in the film Lugo passes on to Doyle, the real-life Sabina and Lugo remained together as a couple and became engaged, and they fled together to the Bahamas (with Lugo's parents). Additional real-life players in the events are detailed in the 'Miami New Times' article, "Sidebar: Cast of Characters".
In the film, Victor Kershaw states he was born in Bogot, Colombia. His real life counterpart, Marc Schiller, was born in Argentina. Schiller and Lugo did not befriend each other; Schiller actually distrusted Lugo. It was Delgado (who worked for Schiller, as did Delgado's wife) who befriended Lugo and targeted Schiller, and it was at Delgado's (not Schiller's) warehouse where the kidnappers held and tortured Schiller for a full month, while extorting him and before trying to kill him.
Sabina Elena Petrescu (portrayed onscreen by Bar Paly as Sorina Luminita) was in fact a Solid Gold center-stage stripper. She was a Miss Romania finalist in 1990 and a former 'Penthouse' model. Lugo really did convince Petrescu that he was a CIA operative, who was working to kidnap enemies of the U.S. government. In the film, a blindfolded Victor Kershaw recognized Lugo by his cologne. In reality, Marc Schiller recognized his voice.
The car with which the gang tried to kill Schiller, by crashing it (into a construction vehicle in the film; into a utility pole in reality) and then by setting Schiller and it ablaze, was a Toyota 4Runner, not a BMW. In contrast to the film, the gang did not secure Schiller's seat-belt before crashing the car, and Schiller did not survive the crash from inside the car; rather, Schiller bailed out of the car, rolling onto the ground, before it hit the pole. When crashing the car and setting Schiller ablaze failed, the real-life gang ran over Schiller's body twice, but with a Toyota Camry, not a van.
The movie portrays Paul Doyle as first running into a demeaning Frank Griga at a strip club. In reality, Doorbal first discovered Griga when Doorbal spotted a picture of a Lamborghini Diablo in a photo album belonging to his Hungarian stripper girlfriend, Beatriz Weiland. He asked her who owned it. It turned out that Griga was one of Weiland's former generous boyfriends. It was she who introduced Griga to the gang. In reality, Frank Griga was Hungarian and therefore lacked an American accent, in contrast to his onscreen portrayal.
The gang did meet at Frank Griga's home as in the movie. In reality, they met three times; the final instance at Doorbal's Miami Lakes apartment, where the murders actually took place. In reality, Lugo did not kill GrigaDoorbal did, by first cracking the side of his head with a blunt object, then strangling him with a headlock, and finally injecting him with Rompun. Krisztina Furton ran to see what had happened, and screamed. Lugo covered her mouth and tackled her. She had no gun, contrary to the movie portrayal. She was bound, then Doorbal injected her with the drug. Overall, Doorbal injected her three separate times, instead of twice.
'Miami New Times' reporter Francisco Alvarado reports the facts associated with the power tools purchased by the gang, the cause of the chainsaw's failure, and the ensuing details, some of which differed from their film portrayal:
They bought a gas-powered chainsaw from Home Depot to cut off body parts but forgot to fill it with motor oil, so it broke the first time they cranked the power tool on. Lugo returned the chainsaw to Home Depot, demanding a refund. He left the home-improvement store with an electric Remington Power Cutter, which came with a one-year guarantee to 'handle all your cutting chores quickly and easily.' He went back to the warehouse and handed the chainsaw to Doorbal, who took charge of the grisly dismemberment. When the power tool's teeth got caught in Furton's hair, Doorbal had Lugo chop off her head with a hatchet. The two murderers then used a curved blade and pliers to remove the faces and teeth off the heads.
The movie depicted Lugo and Doorbal dumping the body parts in several barrels into a lake located somewhere in what appears to be the Everglades. In reality, Lugo, Doorbal, and "Little Mario" Gray dumped Griga and Furton's torsos-in-drums into a drainage ditch in southwest Miami.
Details in the scene in which Paul was shown incinerating the victims' severed hands on a barbecue grill (to remove the fingerprints) were changed; in reality, Lugo did the grilling, using a steel drum with an iron grate laid on top, not a barbecue grill. Lugo tossed Griga and Furton's hands, feet, and skull fragments onto the grate, doused them in gasoline, and began to grill. When Delgado returned to the warehouse, he yelled at Lugo, who reluctantly agreed to move his operation from in front of the warehouse to the rear alley.
In the film, Doyle robbed an armored truck and got his toe shot off while escaping. That sequence is entirely fictional; no member of the Sun Gym gang actually robbed an armored truck or had their toe shot off.
Robin Peck (Rebel Wilson's character), Doorbal's girlfriend, then wife, in the film, is based on Cindy Eldridge, who did refer Doorbal to a doctor. Contrary to events in the film, they did not meet at a medical office, they did not have a whirlwind courtship or marry at home, and Doorbal did not need to commit further crimes to fund his injections. Furthermore, Doorbal was violent and sadistic in real life, unlike Anthony Mackie's mild-mannered character in the movie.
Arrests
In the movie, the police arrest:* Mese at the Sun GymIn reality, Mese was arrested at his own bodybuilding competition in Downtown Miami.
* Doyle at the churchDoyle's real composite counterparts were all arrested at home.
In the film, Lugo escapes in Kershaw's go-fast boat, and at Du Bois' house, Kershaw asserts that he owns a boat. In reality, Schiller did not own a boat. Only Griga owned a boat; it was a tall yacht christened 'Foreplay'.
Near the end of the movie, Lugo is seen getting hit by a car driven by Kershaw, in the Bahamas. This event did not happen. In reality, Lugo fled to the Bahamas with his fiance and his parents, and neither Schiller nor the detective, Du Bois, was there during his capture. Instead, a multi-agency task force apprehended Lugo at the Hotel Montague in Nassau.
At the end of the movie, Doyle has an attack of conscience, confesses, and testifies against Lugo and Doorbal. Instead of the death penalty, he gets 15 years but only serves 7. Carl Weekes, the religious and recurring drug-abuser part of Doyle's composite, drove the car that ran over Schiller and got 10 years for attempted murder; he served 7 years. Jorge Delgado, who actually testified against the rest of the gang, did so in order to avoid the death penalty.
In the film, DuBois is portrayed as a retired police officer who takes over his "old man's detective agency" when he accepts Kershaw's case. In reality, Ed Du Bois III has been a licensed private investigator since 1960 and took over his father's agency in 1968. Du Bois continues in this capacity to this day.
The end credits of the film state that John Mese was sentenced to 15 years and died in prison. While he did die of a stroke in 2004, his sentence was actually 56 years.
Among the multiple major differences between the film and the real-life story, writer David Chen notes that the real-life gang member whose temperament is most like that of the character, Paul Doyle (played by Dwayne Johnson):
In reality, the third man in the Sun Gym Gang was a man named Carl Weekes, who most closely resembles the Paul Doyle character in the film both are trying to make a new life in Miami, and both are born again Christians. But Weekes is a weakling; Collins describes him as "a lightweight" who weighed only 140. Moreover, he's almost totally excluded from the later events in the story, in which sex mogul Frank Griga is killed.
Controversy
The Associated Press published an article interviewing survivors and investigators of the Sun Gym gang. Miami-Dade Police Sgt. Felix Jimenez stated: "You are talking about real people. And in this particular case, especially when you're talking about the murder victims, these were innocent victims." Zsuzsanna Griga, whose brother and brother's girlfriend the gang killed and dismembered, said she didn't want the American public to sympathize with the killers.
David Haglund and Forrest Wickman of 'Slate' wrote, in a post titled "How True Is 'Pain & Gain'?": "In addition to the usual Hollywood streamlining and the amping up of certain scenes, the changes seem largely designed to make the central criminals more sympathetic. Whether you think that's a respectable thing to do will depend on what you think of their actual story and perhaps, of the movies in general."
In popular culture
* Writer Pete Collins parlayed his three-part 'Miami New Times' article series, that inspired the film, into a consultancy for film's screenwriting team, a book titled 'Pain & Gain This Is a True Story' (2013), multiple post-film articles (such as those in 'Miami New Times'), and media appearances.
* Private Investigator Ed Du Bois, III (portrayed by Ed Harris in the film) released a single on iTunes titled "Pain and Gain - Retribution Song" which he wrote and recorded in 2012 as an homage to his client, Marc Schiller.
* Judge Alex Ferrer, who heard the Sun Gym gang case and subsequently provided supportive testimony in Marc Schiller's Medicare fraud trial, is a former local policeman and attorney who stars in the arbitration-based reality court television show 'Judge Alex'.
* Marc Schiller (portrayed in the film as Victor Kershaw) has published multiple books about the ordeal and its aftermath.
** 'Pain and Gain The Untold True Story' (January 2013) documents his account of the events.
** 'Pain and Gain How I Survived and Triumphed' (March 2013) discusses his ensuing experiences and lessons learned since the first memoir's publication.
Home media
In the United States, 'Pain & Gain' was released on digital formats such as iTunes and UltraViolet on August 13, 2013, and on Blu-ray and DVD August 27, 2013.
References
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