Patriots Day: History vs. Hollywood

Is Mark Wahlberg's character, Tommy Saunders, based on a real person?

No. In researching the Patriots Day true story, we quickly discovered that he is a "composite" character who is largely fictional. "There were many police officers who were instrumental in different parts of the investigation," says actor Mark Wahlberg. "So Tommy Saunders is actually a composite character." Producer Scott Stuber added, "As we started to realize how many different Boston police officers were in different places of importance, the most respectful thing we could do is to say that Mark was representing law enforcement. There was no one person everywhere." This also obviously means that Tommy Saunder's wife Carol, portrayed by Michelle Monaghan in the movie, is a fictional character. -PatriotsDayFilm.com

Is Patriots Day based on a book?

No. In fact-checking the Patriots Day movie, we discovered that the film was born from two screenplays, one that revolved around the manhunt (Boston Strong) and one based on a 60 Minutes episode about the bombing (Patriots Day). The first was entertaining but largely fictional and the second was factually accurate but lacked dramatic tension. They were combined to create a screenplay that fell somewhere in the middle, giving way to a story that is bountiful in procedural accuracy but built around a fictional hero, Boston Police Officer Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg). -Bustle.com

How many people died or were injured as a result of the Boston Marathon terrorist bombing?

Three people died and an estimated 264 were wounded as a direct result of the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 (view footage of the explosions). 17 people underwent amputations, with some suffering full or partial traumatic amputations during the blasts (SalemNews.com). These individuals include newlyweds Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky, who are portrayed by Christopher O'Shea and Rachel Brosnahan in the movie. Both were standing near the finish line and lost their left legs below the knee in the attack (Jessica would eventually also lose her right leg as well). Like others, they also suffered shrapnel wounds and perforated eardrums. Watch the real Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky discuss the tragedy and the movie. -BostonGlobe.com

"I have little glimpses in my memory from those first days," Jessica Kensky said in an interview. "I have stories people told me later. But the really painful stuff, it kind of fades away. It's just too much. I remember writing the words 'Patrick's foot.' I had no idea at that point that I had lost a leg. The only thing I could think about was Patrick's foot, laying on the ground. Then he wasn't there. He was taken to a different hospital." Patrick and Jessica didn't see each other for more than fifteen days, until she was stable enough to be moved to visit Patrick (their reunion happens much earlier in the movie), and it was another five weeks until they were relocated into a room together at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, after Patrick's fevers and infections subsided. Three years later, Patrick completed the 2016 Boston Marathon, running 26.2 miles as a single-leg amputee. -Boston College News

Does the movie get the details of the bombing and manhunt right?

For the most part, yes. Of course, the biggest deviation from the Patriots Day true story is the presence of fictional police officer Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg).

Was there really a debate over making the images of the suspects public?

Yes. "There was a robust debate about making the images public," says former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. "At that point, there had been at least one person misidentified by a newspaper. We didn't know how many people were involved. Who were they connected to? Was there more? So, I supported making the images public, but not before the President leaves." -Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing

Did Katherine Russell, widow of terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev, know about the attack beforehand?

According to Tamerlan Tsarnaev's widow, Katherine Russell, she says that she did not know about the attack that her husband and brother-in-law were planning. Patriots Day producer Michael Radutzky defended the movie's stance, stating that multiple sources shared with him information gathered during Russell's interrogation (the official interrogation transcripts have not been released by the FBI). Though she has never been charged with a crime in relation to her husband's act of terror, director Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon) says that he questions how a woman could live in a small apartment with the bombers and not realize what they were up to. The movie concludes with updates on the investigation, stating that law enforcement continues to look for information pertaining to Katherine Russell's possible involvement, something that her lawyer says is news to him, implying that it is not true. -Daily Mail Online

Was there evidence that Tamerlan's wife, Katherine Russell, was hoping to be rewarded for being the wife of a martyr?

Yes. In the movie, the interrogator implies that they knew that Katherine Russell had been looking into this. In real life, computer expert Mark Spencer testified at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial that Katherine Russell's computer revealed that she had done searches that included phrases like "rewards for wife of mujahideen [holy warrior]" and "if your husband becomes a shahid [martyr] what are the rewards for you?" The searches were done more than a year before the bombings.

After the Boston Marathon bombing, Katherine texted a friend, "A lot more people are killed every day in Syria [and] other places. Innocent people." -Newsweek.com

Who were brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?

The Tsarnaev brothers were born in the Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and moved to America in 2002 when their parents applied for political asylum in the U.S. The younger brother, Dzhokhar, was a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts' Dartmouth campus. The older Tamerlan married Katherine Russell in 2010 and they had a young daughter. After his promising boxing career had taken a turn, Tamerlan was left unemployed and his radical Muslim ideologies had taken an increasingly militant tone.

At the same time, Dzhokhar seemed to be living the life of a normal college student, going to parties and tweeting about his penchant for alcohol, girls and weed, which are not exactly the typical interests of a Muslim extremist. It is relatively clear that the onset of much of Dzhokhar's radical anti-American views were largely due to the growing influence of his older brother. Like their mother, both believed that 9/11 was an inside job by the U.S. government to create mass hatred for Muslims (they tell this to carjacking victim Dun Meng in the movie). In the weeks before the bombings, Dzhokhar's tweets to his followers reflected the brothers' looming intentions. "If you have the knowledge and the inspiration all that's left is to take action." Those actions, which unfolded on April 15, 2013 at the Boston Marathon, led to Dzhokhar being sentenced to death. -CNN.com

Did slain MIT police officer Sean Collier really have a budding romance with an MIT student?

No. Director Peter Berg said that he added the romance to the movie to help convey Collier's appeal. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer was shot and killed in his cruiser by the bombers when they tried to steal his gun. -NYTimes.com

Did carjacking victim Dun Meng really have the GPS tracking number of his SUV memorized?

Yes. As hard as it is to believe, the real Dun Meng, an app developer, had actually memorized the tracking number of the GPS in his Mercedes SUV. If he hadn't given the number to police, they may never have been able to track down the stolen SUV before the bombers reached Times Square, their next intended target. Like in Patriots Day, Dun Meng was carjacked in the first place because, in an effort to be responsible, he had pulled off the road to type a text message. He says that his time with the bombers is accurately depicted in the film, right down to Dzhokhar asking if there was a jack in the car so he could play his music. -NYTimes.com

Does the movie use actual surveillance footage?

Yes. In many instances the movie utilizes actual surveillance footage. It complements director Peter Berg's affinity for handheld camerawork, and it is often blended so well into the film that it's hard to tell if we're watching real or recreated surveillance footage.

Did Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese, portrayed by J.K. Simmons, really tackle terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

Yes. Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese of the Watertown Police Department indeed played a major role in the real firefight. He had just finished a 16-hour shift and decided to be an extra set of eyes on the carjacking, not knowing he would be arriving to a gunfight. The FBI had located the carjacked SUV by tracking its GPS signal. Like in the Patriots Day movie, Pugliese arrived on the scene and flanked terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev. They moved quickly toward each other shooting, and when Tamerlan's gun would no longer fire, he threw it at Pugliese and turned to flee. Pugliese ran after him and tackled him to the pavement. As other officers helped to subdue Tamerlan, the terrorist's younger brother Dzhokhar got in the stolen SUV and attempted to run down the officers but ran over his brother instead, adding to Tamerlan's fatal injuries. Pugliese worked closely with the filmmakers to get his role in the shootout right.

"We shot the home scenes at their house," says actor J.K. Simmons, noting details right down to the inclusion of "Jeff's Sauce," Pugliese's own homemade pasta sauce. "The director and producers went above and beyond making sure they got it right," says Pugliese. "When I was on set, many times [Peter Berg] would stop the action, in the middle of shooting, and ask me, 'Jeff, is that how it went down?' " -BostonGlobe.com

Did officers really fire at a police vehicle as it left the scene of the Watertown shootout?

Yes. There was a mistaken police radio report that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had fled the Watertown scene in a state police SUV that he stole. Like in the movie, police fired multiple rounds at the SUV as it left the scene of the shootout. Fortunately, no one was injured. -NBCNews.com

Were the real people involved in the making of the movie?

Yes. While fact-checking the Patriots Day movie, we learned that the filmmakers interviewed first responders and many eyewitnesses. They worked with Watertown Sgt. Jeff Pugliese (portrayed by J.K. Simmons), Police Commissioner Ed Davis (played by John Goodman), and Dun Meng, the man that bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev carjacked and held hostage. They came to the set and worked with the actors who portray them. Commissioner Davis commented on the accuracy of John Goodman's portrayal. "Right down to the scarf I was wearing and the jacket I had on. He practiced my accent and sounded just like me" (Bustle.com). They shot scenes at real-life locations, including the former home of Sean Collier, the MIT patrol officer who was killed by the terrorists. The home's pink interior walls were left untouched for the film.

Some of the survivors who were initially against the film changed their minds after seeing it. This included Marc Fucarile (not represented in the movie), who lost his leg in the bombing. "Surprisingly it was really good," he said in an interview on Kirk & Callahan.

The videos below offer a firsthand look at the tragic events that unfolded at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, including footage of the two explosions and their aftermath. Further deepen your knowledge of the Patriots Day true story by watching survivor interviews.

• Official Patriots Day Movie Website