Pain & Gain is a 2013 American action comedy film[3][4] directed by Michael Bay and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, loosely based on a 1999 series of Miami New Times articles by Pete Collins about the activities of the Sun Gym gang, a group of bodybuilding ex-convicts convicted of kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder in Miami in the mid-1990s.[5][6] It stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie. The title is a play on the common fitness adage "no pain, no gain".
The film received mixed reviews; it was praised for its script and performances, but criticized for its directing, historical inaccuracies, and overreliance on violence. It was a commercial success, grossing $86 million worldwide against a $26 million budget.[7][8] Marc Schiller, the Sun Gym gang's primary victim who was depicted in the film as Victor Kershaw, sued the production company over his portrayal.[9][10]
In 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, who was recently rendered impotent from steroids. He envies the earnings and lifestyle of Victor Kershaw, a member he begins to train. Inspired to be a "doer" by motivational speaker/playboy Jonny Wu, Lugo plans to extort Kershaw for his assets. He recruits Doorbal and manipulates Paul Doyle, another ex-con and born again Christian struggling with drug use, into blindly playing along.
The "Sun Gym gang" kidnaps Kershaw, taking him to a small warehouse. Although Kershaw identifies Lugo, the scheme proceeds as planned. Under duress, Kershaw makes calls to provide explanations for his disappearance and transfers his assets to Lugo. Mese is bribed to notarize documents in Kershaw's absence. After collecting Kershaw's money and assets, the gang attempts to kill Kershaw. They stage a drunk driving crash, burn his car, then run him over.
The gang members spoil themselves with Kershaw's riches. Lugo takes over Kershaw's car and home and begins forcing himself on the local community; Doorbal marries Robin, the nurse treating his impotence; Doyle, after assaulting a priest for making homosexual advances on him, abandons his restraints, blowing his money on cocaine and Sorina, his new stripper girlfriend who believes he and Lugo work for the CIA.
Unbeknownst to the gang, Kershaw survived and is hospitalized. He informs the police, who dismiss his story because of Kershaw's manner, blood alcohol level and him being from a South American country known for drug trafficking. Kershaw contacts Ed Du Bois, III, a retired private investigator, who warns Kershaw to leave the hospital. Kershaw takes his advice just as the gang arrives and hides in a cheap motel. Du Bois tails them and meets Lugo, who becomes suspicious at the mention of Kershaw.
After Kershaw furiously calls Mese about his stolen money, the gang identifies the motel he stays at. They go to kill him, but discover that he has already checked out. They learn of Du Bois' link to Kershaw and plan to kidnap him, but the plan falls through.
Doyle and Doorbal, having gone broke after excessive spending, plan another kidnapping with Lugo. They target Frank Griga, owner of a phone sex operation. They lure Griga and his girlfriend Krisztina Furton to Doorbal's to propose an investment scheme. The discussion breaks down when Griga points out that he doesn't trust Lugo and his friends due to their obvious lack of knowledge on running a business. During the ensuing fistfight, one of Doorbal's weights falls on Griga's head, killing him; Doorbal accidentally kills Krisztina by overdosing her with horse tranquilizer in the chaos.
They dismember the bodies and dispose of them in a swamp. Doyle, perturbed by the violence Lugo promised wouldn't happen, 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, plan to arrest the Sun Gym gang.
The police arrest Doyle at the church, Doorbal at home, and Mese at the Sun Gym. Lugo flees in Kershaw's speedboat. Deducing his move, the police rush to a bank in Nassau to catch him attempting to steal the rest of Kershaw's money, which he moved to an offshore account in case something happened. Lugo slips away again, but gets run over by Kershaw and is finally arrested.
At the trial, Doyle gives a full confession incriminating Doorbal and Lugo; Robin, upon discovering her husband's criminal activities, divorces and also testifies against Doorbal along with Sorina. Lugo and Doorbal are sentenced to death. Doyle and Mese are sentenced to 15 years. Doyle served 7 years and converted back to Christianity while Mese died in prison.
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.[11][12]
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.[13] The budget was set at $35 million,[14] the lowest of any film Bay has directed since his first feature film Bad Boys (1995). Bay, Johnson, and Wahlberg did not take salaries, instead signing on in exchange for back ends on the film's profits.[15] 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."[16] 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.[17] 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."[18]
On February 28, 2012, it was reported that Israeli model Bar Paly and Lebanese-American actor Tony Shalhoub had joined the cast.[19] 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."[19] Shalhoub's role in the film is that of "Marc Schiller, the target of the kidnapping scheme."[19] On March 5, it was reported that Scott Rosenberg was brought on board to punch up the script.[14] Rosenberg had worked with Bay previously on Armageddon (1998).[14] In a statement on March 7, Bay reported the budget was $22 million and said he was taking director's scale for the film.[20] In an interview with The New York Times that April, Bay later stated the budget was an estimated $26 million.[12]
On March 27, 2012, Rebel Wilson joined the cast as Robin Peck,[21] and principal photography began in Miami on March 31. That April, Dutch actress Yolanthe Sneijder-Cabau joined the cast as Wahlberg's character's object of desire.[22] On April 5, Ken Jeong joined the cast as a character named Jonny Wu.[23] The official trailer for the film was released on December 19.[24]
Rotten Tomatoes reports that 50% of 201 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critics 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 spectacle."[26] Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[1] Audiences surveyed by Cinemascore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[27]
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".[28] Scott Foundas of Variety wrote "the violence mostly lands with a sickening thud, which is fitting, one supposes, but also ultimately numbing."[29] Writing for The Observer, Philip French said he "rather enjoyed" the violent black comedy, with particular praise for Ed Harris.[30] Referring to the movie as "a Bay botch job", Rolling Stone gave the film 1/2 star out of 4, noting: "[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."[31] Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, calling it "as ambitious and vibrant as it is ugly and scattershot".[32] Andrew O'Hehir of Salon found the film "cruel but funny", adding, "Michael Bay sends a clear message to those of us who've been making fun of him: He's been in on the joke the whole time."[33]
In the film, Victor Kershaw states he was born in Bogot, Colombia. His real life counterpart, Marc Schiller, was born in Argentina.[39] 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.[37]
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 is a former Penthouse model.[36] 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.[35]
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