I have come to the conclusion that my fiancé, Blaine, has a man-crush on Mark Wahlberg. I can’t say I blame him, really, considering the man is a rather fine specimen, and the reason I say Blaine has a crush on Marky-Mark is that whenever we are searching for a movie to watch on Netflix, we often end up picking one that stars Mr. Wahlberg, chosen by Blaine.
A few nights ago, we watched ‘Pain & Gain.’ Blaine had, shockingly, already seen it, but I had not, and after Blaine gave me a rough synopsis in his own words and proceeded to tell me the film is based on true events, I was intrigued.
According to the movie’s Wikipedia Page,
“Pain & Gain is a 2013 American action comedy film[1][3] directed by Michael Bay and starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie. The film is loosely based on a story Pete Collins published in a 1999 series of Miami New Times articles and compiled in the book Pain & Gain: This Is a True Story (2013), which details the kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder of several victims by the Sun Gym gang.[4][5] The film’s title is a play on a common adage frequently used in fitness: “No pain, no gain“. Released on April 11, 2013, Pain & Gain received generally mixed reviews, criticized for the violence, directing, and historical inaccuracies. Against a $26 million budget, the film grossed $86 million worldwide.”
I did a bit of sleuthing after watching this movie, and I was honestly surprised to see it received such shitty reviews.
Before you watch this movie, if you haven’t seen it already, allow me to vouch for its violence and, in a way, its barbarianism considering what the Sun Gym gang do to the man they decide to go after for his fortune, and another victim after him. I was absolutely floored that this film is based on actual events, and while Wikipedia says the movie was criticized for its historical inaccuracy, you can’t help but wonder where the ideas for some of the violence portrayed originated from.
I do recommend watching this movie because the story it is based on is so insanely bat shit crazy. I wouldn’t say I loved it, but it certainly was interesting.
ontheedgeofeverything 
