FilmSnobReviews

Title: Middle Men
MPAA Rating: R
Director: George Gallo
Starring: Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht
Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutesWhat It Is? It’s 1995 and the internet has been introduced to the world. There’s just one thing missing, and there are two men who have the idea. Wayne Beering (Ribisi) and Buck Dolby (Macht) are two men who get the idea to put naked pictures of women on the internet, and have anyone who wants to see those pictures, give them their credit card numbers over the computer. Dolby writes up a program for it and they are soon making thousands of dollars within days. Jack Harris (Wilson), a business man hears of this and finds a way to make it easier for the two guys, by creating a way of billing the customer without giving away that it is for a porn site. After getting involved, we are soon introduced to the life of pornstars, mobsters and eventually, the FBI.

What We Think? George Gallo directs this film inspired by true events. Starring Luke Wilson and following him, James Caan, Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht and Laura Ramsey. It has a good cast, no doubt. It just isn’t able to pull off a good enough script. Luke Wilson is able to shine in this film very well, out-acting many of his co-stars and being more of a “Leading Man” than a “Middle Man”. But it’s the script that seems to have been run through the dryer by accident, often getting lost and confused at certain points. Kind of reminiscent of Lucky Number Slevin. However, Slevin was able to thoroughly describe the plot twists and situations, in a way that Middle Men was unable to. Many characters forgotten or lost in the shuffle, soon became almost forgettable and irrelevant.

Our Score: C-, A film filled with nudity and drug use, you can see how this was given an “R” rating. If you are looking for a 75% porno, you won’t be getting any. While the cast is rather solid, the script and acting are the two things that just can’t be held together by the sticky premise. Inspired by a true story? Yes. But maybe the story is better told by the ones who lived it.