In 1995 the growth of the Internet opened many doors for innovation and business. Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby were two friends who moved to Los Angles to make it rich; they just weren't quite sure how to do it. While pondering their ideas, they zoned in on a unique and previously unheard of way to sell adult entertainment online. Enter Jack, a successful businessman who lived the perfect life: a beautiful house, family and a successful career fixing problem companies. When Jack agrees to help steer this new business, he soon finds himself caught between a 23 year-old porn star and the FBI. But hey, that is the price you must pay if you wish to become one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of his time.
When I first saw the trailer to George Gallo's Middle Men I was intrigued. Adult entertainment is a multimillion-dollar industry. A movie depicting how it all started had to interesting, right? To an extent.
Middle Men is based on a true story, and the script does a great job with sticking to the facts. The acting was surprisingly solid as Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht bring to life the duo responsible for making porn available on the Internet "“ a feat that will be well respected by many guys in the audience.
But don't let the subject matter fool you. Middle Men is not one to be taken lightly. In fact, it is actually a very intelligent, thought provoking film. It requires your full attention, as you must keep up with the characters and their intentions throughout the near two-hour film. Director George Gallo (who is a credited co-writer as well) shows that he can successfully write funny, vulgar dialogue without loosing site of the story.
Where the film doesn't connect is with Jack's character. In the movie Harris was meant to be the central operator that was to make their business venture successful. As a viewer, I really didn't see Wilson filling this role; as a result, Jack is pretty bland, a seemingly ordinary guy with an expertise that seems to come out of nowhere. It would have been much more interesting to see him as a confident high-stakes gambler who always believes he can out-maneuver the other guy. I'm not entirely sure of Jack's real life personality, so I can't harp too much on this portrayal; however, I hope he was lackluster due to historical credibility and not strategic cinema staging.
Overall, Middle Men is the kind of movie that reminds me of the hit social commentary flick Thank You For Smoking. Though here we parody the entertainment industry rather than the tobacco tycoons. Sex, drugs and money are at the forefront, and by the end of it all we get to see just how the Internet brought these objects together. There is a heavy dosage of dialogue featured in this film, and if you aren't prepared you will feel as if you are reading a book. If you can get past that, then you will likely find the film interesting. Not a must-see, but entertaining nonetheless.
