Middle Men

(2010)

Directed by

George Gallo

Review by Todd Plucknett

Posted - 8/8/10

It is good to know that even in the summer of disappointment that there can still be movies that are not on anybody’s radar that can entertain mass audiences and actually have a shred of intellect. Middle Men is one of those films. I know of only a couple people who even knew what this movie was, and I wanted to see it mainly just for the party atmosphere. It is so much more. George Gallo’s film is a gritty, real life crime drama, as well as a brilliantly realized morality tale. It is also somehow one of the better movies to come out this year.

Middle Men’s plot starts with Jack Harris (Luke Wilson) taking $7 million to the Russian mafia, which actually takes place basically last in this film. He narrates the first 15 minutes or so, one of the better uses of narration recently. The film then turns to Wayne (Giovanni Ribisi) and Buck (Gabriel Macht), a couple of stoners who come up with the idea that would soon make then millionaires several times over within a year: putting porn on the internet. More importantly, they were able to develop a program to transfer people’s credit card numbers to them, an idea that had never been constructed in 1995. Buck was actually an out of work rocket scientist, but he was also an idiot. So this coked-out conversation actually led somewhere, since he knew how to program the computer. A series of mistakes, first of which was getting involved with the Russian mafia who owns a nearby strip club, puts Buck and Wayne in a bad situation. Successful lawyer/businessman Jerry Hagarty (James Caan) enlists Jack Harris to help run this business. What he does is create a billing service that connects the pornographers to the consumers. This made him one of the pioneers of internet business and made him filthy rich. However, dealing with the Russian mob, druggies, porn stars, and people trying to rip him off, not everything could end well for him.

Luke Wilson is the star of the movie. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is his best role. He actually succeeds in playing a badass of sorts. It seems like a risky casting decision, when this role easily could have been offered to Matt Damon or somebody that more embodies that persona. Wilson totally rocks it, though. Underrated character actors Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht both shine in their roles. James Caan, Robert Forster, and Kelsey Grammar leave a good impression. Kevin Pollack and Jacinda Barrett do the most with their small parts. The acting is surprisingly some of the finest I have seen all year. There is not a bad performance in the film, not even from Terry Crews.

This story may sound slight to some, but the movie leaves quite an impact. It is like Casino meets Boogie Nights, but with the entertainment value of a movie like Rounders. It is Boogie Nights in that Jack Harris is a family man and businessman, but he gets wrapped up in an alternate lifestyle that eventually could lead to his downfall. It is Casino in that he basically becomes a mafia kingpin, running a worldwide business, raking in some 9 figures annually, and getting mixed up in murders and other serious crimes until his life falls apart. I know that not too many people will enjoy this film as much as I did. It might just turn into what The Girl Next Door is for me now, which is a huge entertainment that I can watch a hundred times and never get tired of it.

This film is very tightly constructed. The editing is flawless, with not a wasted moment in the film. The characters are all well-developed, and the soundtrack is among the best in years. The intrigue of the storyline and tone of the direction perfectly suit the atmosphere. I tried to find something in the story that would make me think less of this movie, but I just couldn’t. Ignore the critics. They are haters for whatever reason. A.O. Scott says it is “all-over-the-map”...only literally. Robert Wilonsky says “predicatable”…no, it is not. Michael Phillips says “dull and muddled”…lol. Give me a serious review and I will read it. These are critics I like and respect, but that is just ridiculous.

Maybe my standards have been lowered so much during this summer that a movie that is actually entertaining and smart just blew me away. Seriously, every movie this summer other than Toy Story 3 and Inception has been a huge letdown. This one had no hype, and hopefully people will go check it out instead of Step Up 3D or The Other Guys, which is only decent. Do not let the content of the movie discourage you. It does its best to make this a twisting tale of morals, showing how Harris was both doing the right and wrong thing, how he was a hero and an antihero. And the film goes places I never thought it would. It is an astonishing true story. This movie will probably just fade with time, but it really is a good one. Check it out. You will probably not see a more thoroughly captivating or powerful film this season.

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