At the opening of Pain & Gain, the

At the opening of Pain & Gain, the new Michael Bay movie starring Mark Wahlberg, we are told that, “unfortunately,” what follows is a true story. It’s meant as a joke, of course, but it calls your attention to the movie’s supposed fidelity to the facts. Later, during an outlandishly gruesome scene, some superimposed text says, “This is still a true story.” During the credits, we get where-are-they-now photos of the principals, reminding us that these are all real people. And the movie’s poster declares flatly, in all caps, “THIS IS A TRUE STORY.”

Is it? By Hollywood standards, perhaps. In late 1994 and early ’95, a crew of thugs led by bodybuilder Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg) did kidnap a Miami businessman and get him to sign over all his worldly possessions. What follows in 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.

Advertisement
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.

Obviously, lots of spoilers follow.

Daniel Lugo



(L) Daniel Lugo by Metro Dade Corrections, (R) Photo courtesy of © 2013 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

The then 30-year-old from New York, played by Wahlberg, rose quickly up the management chain at Sun Gym, got the gang together—which, in real life, included several bit players—and spearheaded their violent schemes. His criminal activities were more various than the movie depicts: In addition to his prior fraud conviction, he was running a lucrative Medicare scam, in which he bought information about Medicare recipients and bilked the government for bogus medical services. Movie-Lugo appears to be single; the real Lugo was married—twice. Both his wife and his ex-wife played tangential roles in the gang’s crimes, as did Lugo’s girlfriend (about whom more below). Most notably, unlike Wahlberg’s character, the real Lugo was not stupid. He “was a smart-ass criminal,” according to the P.I. who helped take him down. “He wasn’t some brute street guy.” He did not, as far as I can tell, attend any self-help seminars, nor have I found instances in which he cited Rocky or Michael Corleone as role models. If he ever wore vanilla-scented cologne, Pete Collins doesn’t mention it. The victim of his first kidnapping recognized him by the sound of his voice.

Advertisement
Adrian Doorbal



(L) Adrian Doorbal by Metro Dade Corrections, (R) Photo courtesy of © 2013 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Doorbal (Anthony Mackie), whose given first name was Noel, was a handsome bodybuilder whose steroid use had indeed rendered him impotent. He saw a doctor for hormone injections to fix that problem, but he did not meet his future wife, Cindy Eldridge (called Robin Peck in the movie), at those appointments. (She did recommend the doctor, though.) The need to fund those injections did not motivate Doorbal’s crimes; he was reportedly in good shape financially, because Lugo had given him a cut of profits from the Medicare scam. The movie depicts Doorbal as fairly timid, but, according the gang’s first target, “Doorbal just loved violence,” and seemed like “the kind of guy you’d imagine had fun killing cats and dogs as a kid.” It was Doorbal, not Lugo, who murdered Frank G

Hasil (Inggris) 1:

At the opening of Pain & Gain, the new Michael Bay movie starring Mark Wahlberg, we are told that, "unfortunately," what follows is a true story. It's meant as a joke, of course, but it calls your attention to the movie's supposed fidelity to the facts. Later, during an outlandishly gruesome scene, some superimposed text says, "This is still a true story." During the credits, we get the where-are-they-now photos of the principals, reminding us that these are all real people. And the movie's the poster declares flatly, in all caps, "THIS IS A TRUE STORY."Is it? By Hollywood standards, perhaps. In late 1994 and early ' 95, a crew of thugs led by bodybuilder Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg) did kidnap a Miami music entrepreneur and get him to sign over all of his worldly possessions. What follows in 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.Advertisement 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.Obviously, lots of spoilers follow.Daniel Lugo(L) Daniel Lugo by Metro Dade Corrections, (R) Photo courtesy of © 1995 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.The then 30-year-old from New York, played by Wahlberg, rose quickly up the management chain at Sun Gym, got the gang together — which, in real life, included several bit players — and spearheaded their violent schemes. His criminal activities were more various than the movie depicts: In addition to his prior fraud conviction, he was running a lucrative Medicare scam, in which he bought information about Medicare an and bilked the government for bogus medical services. Movie-Lugo "appears to be single; the real Lugo was married — twice. Both his wife and his ex-wife played tangentially roles in the gang's crimes, as did Lugo's girlfriend (about whom more below). Most notably, unlike Wahlberg's character, the real Lugo was not stupid. He "was a smart-ass criminal," according to the P.I. Fame who helped take him down. "He wasn't some brute street guy." He did not, as far as I can tell, attend any self-help seminars, nor have I found instances in which he cited the Rocky or Michael Corleone us role models. If he ever wore the vanilla-scented cologne, Pete Collins doesn't mention it. The first of his kidnapping victim recognized him by the sound of his voice.Advertisement Adrian Doorbal(L) Adrian Doorbal by Metro Dade Corrections, (R) Photo courtesy of © 1995 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.Doorbal (Anthony Mackie), whose given first name was Noel, was a handsome bodybuilder whose steroid use had indeed rendered him impotent. He saw a doctor for hormone injections to fix that problem, but he did not meet his future wife, Cindy Eldridge (called Robin Peck in the movie), at those appointments. (She did recommend the doctor, though.) The need to fund those injections did not motivate Doorbal's crimes; He was reportedly in good shape financially, because Lugo had given him a cut of profits from the Medicare scam. The movie depicts Doorbal us fairly timid, but, according to the gang's of the first target, "Doorbal just loved violence," and seemed like the kind of guy you'd imagine had fun killing cats and dogs as a kid. " It was not, Lugo, Doorbal who murdered Frank G