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Pain & Gainis a 2013 action-comedy film that has formed a place for itself in modern pop culture thanks to its depiction of bodybuilders. Directed by Michael Bay, the film stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie in the lead roles. It follows the story of a group of ex-convicts and bodybuilders who engaged in crimes such as kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder in Miami during the 1990s.
The film debuted to mixed reviews but grossed $86.2 million at the global box office becoming a commercial success. However, the film sparked controversy because of its subject material which is based on true events. The film was heavily criticized by some sections of the media for its sympathetic portrayal of criminals. Here is everything you need to know about the true story behindPain & Gainand why its depiction of convicted murderers proved to be problematic.
Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg’sPain & GainIs Based on Real Events
Pain & Gainis based on the real-life story of the Sun Gym gang, a notorious group of bodybuilders who visited the Sun Gym in North Miami, Florida, during the mid-1990s. The screenplay was adapted from a series of articles written by Pete Collins and published in theMiami New Timesin 1999.
Mark Wahlberg‘s Daniel Lugo is based on the person of the same name and so is Anthony Mackie’s Adrian ‘Noel’ Doorbal.Dwayne Johnson‘s Paul Doyle is a composite character based on Carl Weekes, Stevenson Pierre, and Jorge Delgado. The film’s story loosely tells the gang’s story as they were involved in abducting, extorting, and murdering Frank Griga and Krisztina Furton. The Sun Gym gang had also abducted and extorted Marc Schiller in 1994, whose complaint led to their eventual arrests.
Daniel Lugo, Noel “Adrian” Doorbal, John Mese, Jorge Delgado, and John Raimondo were all tried and found guilty of multiple counts of charges levied against them. Doorbal and Lugo were sentenced to death while Raimondo served eight years in prison. Delgado was sentenced to a combined 20 years in prison but was released after serving seven years. Mese was sentenced to 30 years in prison but died of a stroke in 2004.
Pain & GainSparked Controversy For Glorifying the Sun Gym Gang
The aforementioned exploits of the Sun Gym gang are enough to prove them as career criminals. However, those affected by the crimes of the gang were reportedly unhappy with their alleged sympathetic portrayal in the film.
Huffington Post published an article with comments from survivors and those involved in the investigation of the Sun Gym gang, calling out the film for trying to humanize criminals who were charged with serious crimes and sentenced to death.
Zsuzsanna Griga, the sister of victim Frank Griga, bashed the film for trying to glorify her brother’s killers. She stated while speaking to the Miami Herald (viaHuffington Post):
“It’s horrible what happened to them. I don’t want the American public to be sympathetic to the killers.”
Similarly, Miami-Dade Police Sgt. Felix Jimenez was enraged by the action-comedy treatment of the film, implying Jimenez was unhappy with the glorification of criminals. Marc Schiller, a survivor of the gang’s crimes, was also furious with his depiction in the film.
“The movie made a mockery of me and of the pain and suffering that I had endured… The horrible person on the screen had no resemblance to who I was — or who I am now.”
Schiller made the above statement to theNew York Postand also filed a complaint against the film in 2014.
In a separate interview with theHuffington Post, Schiller blasted the film for its comedic treatment of the real and serious situations faced by the victims of the Sun Gym gang. Other media outlets such as theSlateandThe Philadelphia Tribunealso criticized the film for its humorous approach to kidnapping and torture.
Pain & Gainis streaming on Paramount+
Pratik Handore
Content Writer
Articles Published :1773
With a keen interest in comic book movies and blockbuster franchises, Pratik usually covers news and updates on the DCU, MCU, Star Wars, and more.A die-hard fan of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Pratik spends most of his time exploring different storytelling mediums that invoke a sense of wonder and adventure. Other filmmakers whose works have deeply influenced him include Alfred Hitchcock, James Gunn, and Guillermo del Toro.
