April 11, 2013 (Miami premiere)
April 26, 2013 (United States)
Pain & Gain is a 2013 American black comedy crime film directed by Michael Bay and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It is 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. It stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie as members of the gang, with supporting roles played by Tony Shalhoub and Ed Harris. The title is a play on the fitness adage "no pain, no gain".
Pain & Gain premiered in Miami on April 11, 2013, before Paramount Pictures released it in theatres on April 26. The film received mixed reviews; it was praised for its script and performances, but criticized for its directing, historical inaccuracies, and overreliance on violence. A commercial success, it grossed $86 million worldwide against a $26 million production budget. 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.
Storyline
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, who seeks financial resources to pay for erectile dysfunction treatment. He manipulates Paul Doyle, another ex-con and born again Christian struggling with drug use, into joining the plan. Doyle, who had been staying at a church after leaving prison, assaults the priest at the church for making homosexual advances on him and becomes more intertwined with the gang.
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.
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 Colombia, a South American country known for drug trafficking. Kershaw contacts Ed Du Bois, III, a semi-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.
The gang members spoil themselves with Kershaw's riches. Lugo takes over Kershaw's car and home and begins integrating himself with Kershaw's neighbors; Doorbal marries Robin, the nurse treating his impotence; Doyle abandons his sobriety, blowing his money on cocaine and Sorina, who is a stripper and Lugo's ex-girlfriend who believes he and Lugo work for the CIA.
Du Bois tails them and goes on to meet Lugo under the guise of a personal training client.
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 distrusts 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 would not 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 destination, the police, Du Bois, and Kershaw fly by helicopter to the bank in Nassau that Kershaw uses as an offshore account. Lugo slips away from the authorities, 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, while Doyle and Mese are sentenced to 15 years. Doyle served 7 years and rededicated himself to Christianity while Mese died in prison.
Movie Trailer
- Pain & Gain (2013) (Trailers)