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| Pete Collins on the red carpet |
Opening this Friday, April 26th, the Paramount Pictures film Pain & Gain is based on the writing of Pete Collins, part of his MFA thesis of creative nonfiction crime stories about South Florida con men. Pain & Gain is drawn from what the
Miami Herald calls Collins' "an epic three-part story" that was published by the
Miami New Times. Other pieces by Collins (which he refers to as "jailhouse yarns") in his thesis were published in the Herald's
Tropic Magazine and then picked up by
Sixty Minutes and
Dateline.
Director Michael Bay (Transformers) describes Pain & Gain as "a mixture of Fargo and PulpFiction. It's a dark comedy, and it's all true." Shot entirely in South Florida, Pain & Gain stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie as members of the Sun Gym gang, bodybuilders who turned, ineptly, to kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder. Tony Shalhoub plays a victim who survived attempted murder and Ed Harris the detective he turned to for help. Playboy says, "An early candidate for the guy flick of 2013, Pain & Gain is violent, deeply nasty and insanely funny." The original series can be
found online at the New Times, where
you can also read Pete Collins' recent (wry and hilarious) essay about his journey from being "broke, jobless, and near bottom" to the red carpet and seeing his name in the movie ads. More about Pete Collins and his current projects
on his website.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/20/3353317/pain-gain-revisits-a-horrific.html#storylink=cp
A large crowd, including many members of the FIU MFA community were on hand Friday, August 2nd, for the book launch at Books & Books in Coral Gables. The reading and q&a were live-streamed online and can be still be viewed. Or listen to NPR's All Things Considered interview. You can see the schedule for appearances on the No Regrets, Coyote book tour, and find links to more reviews, at JohnDufresne.com.
