Review of Middle Men (2009) by Joel M — 18 Sep 2011

I was thinking about cutting off the "Middle Men" after I read some of its lackluster reviews. But some time later, I read some positive reviews of the movie. Since I did not want to get caught up in the middle, I said "why not"? It's our bill of rights to see movies that have an enticing premise like "Middle Men". Director George Gallo's movie is based on real life incidents of a businessman who joins up with a pair of rambunctious entrepreneurs to make millions from the internet pornography boom of the early 90's. As the film title discloses, the leading characters here are not pornography filmmakers who post videos/shows on the internet, but rather are the ones who run the billing companies which delivers services in a more anonymous form to its consumers and producers. Luke Wilson stars as Jack Harris, the aforementioned businessman who lives the "white picket fence" life in Houston with a beautiful wife and two children; but through a series of opportunistic events, he is porn to be alive in millions. The two men- child who Jack teams up with are drug addicts and best friends, Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby. Mind you one was a former astronaut and the other one a former veterinarian, and oddly enough actually originated the premise of developing online porn sites. However, for the most part, the former astronaut & veterinarian behave more like spaced-out animals due to their drug binges. Since the movie's primary theme is the underbelly of the internet porn industry, you could imagine how many testosterone-driven shady characters are in "Middle Men"; including a Russian Mafia mob boss, an unscrupulous lawyer, and a hypocritical governor; just to name a few. I was taken back by the first hour of "Middle Men" in Director George Gallo's flawless depiction of the era of the internet where successful internet entrepreneurship was booming due to lack of competition, and even a (pardon the expression) jerk-off could make millions with a simplistic idea to make money online. However, Gallo's second hand I mean second half of "Middle Men" seemed more like an action-fare "Bad Boys" than an authentic portrayal of an internet-based company flourishing & surviving in the next era of the world wide web. Gallo does a nice job in hardening the focus of the narrative of "Middle Men" on its central figure, Jack Harris. And Gallo and Co-Writer Andy Weiss' screenplay is rather wise mostly due to Harris' dialogue in the voice-over narration, which keeps the viewer engaged to the story. But then again, Gallo and Weiss' screenplay sporadically misfired with the whole "shoot em up" action shenanigans. Wilson deserved more than the "down the middle" ratings he got for his solid performance as Harris. Giovanni Ribisi was a scene-stealer as the volatile Wayne Beering. Gabriel Macht as Buck Dolby did connect well enough for a Dolby resounding performance acknowledgement. However, the thespian kudos ends there for "Middle Men". Jacinda Barrett as Jack's wife Diana seemed like she was playing the same character as the one she portrayed in "The Last Kiss". I think the James Caan Film Festival of Glory is passed its prime; I know we are talking about Sonny Corleone here, but Caan's performance as the conniving lawyer Jerry Haggerty was profoundly silly and pretentious. Rade Serbedziga, who was so great in "Eyes Wide Shut", was not a hit this time around as the prototypical formulaic Russian Mafia mob boss named (yea you guessed itâ¦) Nikita. "Middle Men" is a movie that is not for everyone, and those who came to expect another "Boogie Nights" will be disappointed; but those who came for a narrative on those who drove the business of internet porn during its early years, will be mostly satisfied with the service that "Middle Men" provides.

**** Good.