Paramount Pictures, Mallick Media, Oxymoron Entertainment
Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht, James Caan, Jacinda Barrett, Kevin Pollak, Laura Ramsey, Rade Serbedzija, Terry Crews, Kelsey Grammer
Buck (Gabriel Macht) and Wayne (Giovanni Ribisi) know that everyone is addicted to porn, and in this time frame the only way to get it is to walk into a sleazy theater or go to some dive rental store and rent a video tape. The internet is here, but no one has a way to use it. These guys write a program that allows you to bill a credit card on the internet, and can put their meager collection of porn on the internet and charge for it. Jack Harris (Luke Wilson) brings the two guys together with a brilliant idea. Leave everyone else to develop the content and setup the web site and develop a system of 3rd party billing. Take a cut, and send the rest to the content provider, and provide the customer with a generic billing charge that does not give away the secret of what they’ve been watching. So the first internet billing clearinghouse was born. Justifying it like all the cable companies and hotels that provide the service but have nothing to do with making the product. Problem is that everyone wants in on the action from the DA to Russian mobsters to the FBI. Gangsters and Porn, what a concept.
This is a mediocre film. It’s not that bad, but it’s not great either. Luke Wilson is actually pretty good with a leading role, and carries it off pretty well. The rest of the cast is not bad either. For a movie that is about the porn industry, it’s highly sanitized. There are some topless ladies running around, but nothing gross. All the rest of the stuff is talked about but not shown. There also are no good guys in this film. Everyone is bad in some way or another as all of us are flawed. Jack is a pretty decent guy, but the money gets the best of him and ruins his home and life. He has his epiphany and the “who am I really” moment, but is it too little too late. There are some funny scenes here, but all in all it’s mostly dramatic. James Caan is a son of a ***** in this movie. He’s one of the sleaziest of the bunch, but he’s pretty decent in this role. All in all, it’s not a great film which is why it got such a limited release, but it’s not that bad. Just a mediocre crime drama with some decent acting and a half way decent script. And the soundtrack, although not always being on target with the film, has a collection of classic rock that is a pleasure to hear and fits the time period.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Movie Review - Middle Men (2009) {R},
