-By Daniel Eagan
For movie details, please click here.
Supposedly based on a true story,
Middle Men takes place in
the go-go years of the Internet land rush, when even idiots could
make a fortune on the web. The film explores what happens when a
straight-arrow businessman runs up against Russian mobsters and
Vegas lawyers, with the world of pornography providing a colorful
backdrop. It's a sordid tale that's played for laughs, at least
until the blood flows and the bodies pile up.
The moral focus of the story is Jack Harris (Luke Wilson), a
happily married Houstonian who gets in over his head when he helps
out computer nerds Wayne Beering (Giovanni Ribisi, in overdrive
from scene one) and Buck Dolby (an amusingly dense Gabriel Macht).
Their Internet start-up is making millions, but they are too addled
to even cash their checks. In getting their company on keel, Harris
not only has to deal with untrustworthy lawyer Jerry Haggerty
(James Caan), but also Nikita Sokoloff (Rade Sherbedgia), whose
Russian mob is muscling in on the territory.
It's a combustible premise ripe for satire, but director and
co-writer George Gallo ultimately aims more for the remorse and
repentance side of the story. Harris delivers a largely
self-serving voice-over that downplays his participation in
blackmail, underage pornography and murder, offering up excuses
like, "It was all too crazy," or "It's like I was living two lives
that were worlds apart." Wilson has played similar parts before,
and performs competently but without much spark.
Middle Men wants viewers to laugh about drug binges and
masturbation (depicted requently and with glee), but also to
commiserate with Harris' failing marriage and troubled children.
The moral leaps are ultimately too hard to swallow; at the same
time, Gallo's preoccupation with Harris' home life drains the film
of its raunchy humor. Viewers are left to admire seasoned pros like
Caan and Sherbedgia, who make the most of their wizened features
and menacing roles.
Porn has been the economic engine for the Internet (indeed for
almost every emerging medium), as news shows like "60 Minutes" love
to point out. One of the advantages to the subject is of course its
titillation factor. Perhaps the biggest surprise about
Middle
Men is how tame it is. Apart from its salty dialogue, the film
is no more salacious than an average Lady Gaga video.
Film Review: Middle Men
Professional fixer tries to protect two creeps who helped develop Internet porn from predatory gangsters and crooks. Mixed-up morality tale should have had more impact.
Aug 5, 2010
-By Daniel Eagan
For movie details, please click here.
Supposedly based on a true story,
Middle Men takes place in the go-go years of the Internet land rush, when even idiots could make a fortune on the web. The film explores what happens when a straight-arrow businessman runs up against Russian mobsters and Vegas lawyers, with the world of pornography providing a colorful backdrop. It's a sordid tale that's played for laughs, at least until the blood flows and the bodies pile up.
The moral focus of the story is Jack Harris (Luke Wilson), a happily married Houstonian who gets in over his head when he helps out computer nerds Wayne Beering (Giovanni Ribisi, in overdrive from scene one) and Buck Dolby (an amusingly dense Gabriel Macht). Their Internet start-up is making millions, but they are too addled to even cash their checks. In getting their company on keel, Harris not only has to deal with untrustworthy lawyer Jerry Haggerty (James Caan), but also Nikita Sokoloff (Rade Sherbedgia), whose Russian mob is muscling in on the territory.
It's a combustible premise ripe for satire, but director and co-writer George Gallo ultimately aims more for the remorse and repentance side of the story. Harris delivers a largely self-serving voice-over that downplays his participation in blackmail, underage pornography and murder, offering up excuses like, "It was all too crazy," or "It's like I was living two lives that were worlds apart." Wilson has played similar parts before, and performs competently but without much spark.
Middle Men wants viewers to laugh about drug binges and masturbation (depicted requently and with glee), but also to commiserate with Harris' failing marriage and troubled children. The moral leaps are ultimately too hard to swallow; at the same time, Gallo's preoccupation with Harris' home life drains the film of its raunchy humor. Viewers are left to admire seasoned pros like Caan and Sherbedgia, who make the most of their wizened features and menacing roles.
Porn has been the economic engine for the Internet (indeed for almost every emerging medium), as news shows like "60 Minutes" love to point out. One of the advantages to the subject is of course its titillation factor. Perhaps the biggest surprise about
Middle Men is how tame it is. Apart from its salty dialogue, the film is no more salacious than an average Lady Gaga video.
