If imitation is the highest form of flattery, what can be said of someone who bends the truth?
Set to premiere on April 26 is the movie "Pain & Gain" that stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Ed Harris among others. The Michael Bay directed flick follows two friends that work at a gym and take the world of bodybuilding quite seriously. Tired of just always getting by, a plan arises to kidnap and extort a snobby gym member with a ton of money. Enter recently released criminal and you now have members of the "Sun Gym Gang" who successfully kidnap their wealthy target, but must evade those looking to catch them.
If this action-comedy sounds entertaining - it should as writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely did a good job of making criminals likeable. While one can only predict this movie will do well in theaters, those associated with the real-life events are not happy.
Inspiration for the movie comes from Marc Schiller's book, "Pain & Gain: The Untold True Story" where he reveals his agony over being kidnapped by the Sun Gym Gang. He recounts the month where Walhberg's character and crew tortured him almost leaving him for dead. "I was in a coma and somehow, I got out," Schiller revealed in an interview with The Huffington Post. "The way they tell it made it look like a comedy." Schiller was fortunate to escape the situation with his life as others involved lost theirs at the hand of the Sun Gym Gang.
"You are talking about real people," adds Miami-Dade Police Sargent Felix Jimenez. "And in this particular case, especially when you're talking about murder victims, these were innocent victims." In addition to being tortured, some victims were brutally killed and even dismembered. "Making these guys looks like nice guys is atrocious," notes Schiller.
Will you go see "Pain & Gain"?
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