Middle Men (2009)

Really liked the somewhat true story of two idiots who stumble on an early Internet cash cow through online porn payment processing. Luke Wilson does a great job as a man who tries to hold onto his moral code while working in adult entertainment. Giovanni Ribisi is utterly plausible as a substance abuser. Lots of other interesting cameos add to some great dark humor. Trying to figure out what's true versus exaggerated is tricky. The Russian mafia play a role that may or may not be true. The FBI play a part in the move that checks out. Thelead character seems a little good to be the at times. Probably because it's an autobiographical story. Still, self praise aside the story. Very enter ting nd ups along at a healthy pace. If you like dark humor and are interested in the early days of the web this is one to watch.

Well worth watching.

Fmovies: I agree with the critics who say Gallo (director) borrowed heavily from Scorcese, and I might even add the background music choices seemed to be "Scorcesian". However, if you can get past that, you might find the movie fairly entertaining and at times hilarious, thanks to some quite original plot twists and turns. Wilson, Ribisi, Cain, Sherbedgia and the rest of the crew were well cast. It's sad that there's total dross that reaps tens of millions of dollars at the box office, while something that's far from a stinker such as this earned a pitiful $700,000, but perhaps the R rating had something to do with it. There actually is not a lot of nudity or sex in the movie, except for a fair bit of amusing talk and suggestive scenes about male masturbation, which is there to poke fun at the porn industry.

I didn't really know what I was getting into when I decided to watch Middle Men. It turned out it was a bittersweet experience of a story that could've really been better, with a leading man that portrays a mesmerizing central figure and holds this loose tale together.

This crime/drama/comedy deals with the beginnings of the internet porn business, a subject of some interest as are most things innovative. Basically, two wild cards have this great idea and they need a man to run it for them in a mix with Russian flavor, crooked lawyers and national sympathy. Luke Wilson portrays the honorable "middle man" Jack Harris, whose inner conflict is really the main attraction here. It may not be something fundamentally new, this rift between morality and anything morally debatable like porn, nor the character type, but in a world that has lost all balance, Jack Harris is the sober rock that it revolves around. Yet, the glamor is not being denied, the things that drive you one way or the other, and thanks to Luke Wilson's performance it gives you something to hold on to.

Unfortunately, the film is mostly flimsy otherwise, despite the considerable (and generally underused) talents of Giovanni Ribisi being added to familiar faces such as James Caan, Kevin Pollack, Terry Crews and Rade Serbedzija. A quite genuine example of typecasting, now that I think of it. I'm sure a more experienced director (not only age-wise) would've lent a much firmer, grittier feeling to the movie, which is too explanatory when it need not be and too safe when it should go all out. Somehow it reminded me of Herzog's remake of The Bad Lieutenant, in the sense that that film went overboard in ludicrous ways, but knowing its condition helped it attain a consistent degree of entertainment.

So I come to conclude that Middle Men does not quite know what it wants to be and that's a drawback. However, there are still some good moments in the film that complement Luke Wilson's performance, even beyond the subject at hand. Overall, it's just enjoyable enough for me to recommend it, for whatever that's worth.

Middle Men fmovies. I ordered Middle Men because I like Luke Wilson. I was expecting nothing more than a 7-7.5.

This movie definitely surpassed my expectations and is better than 90% of the movies provided by Comcast Cable.

Comcast literally shows the same movies over and over and over to the point where it is downright insulting to me as a human being. I cannot for the life of me understand why? I have never been happier since I gave Netflix a try again, not the streaming kind, the one where you can pretty much order any movie that exists through the mail. It was the best decision I have made in years.

Middle Men is just another example of a great movie I had never heard of because it wasn't showing in the theaters or on cable but one I should have known about. It's near flawless, maybe a tad corny at times for a movie that ultimately takes itself seriously in the end. But nevertheless, it's extremely entertaining from start to finish. It gets a ten compared to most movies that only the casual viewer has the opportunity to see assuming they are limited to only movie theaters and cable.

I definitely give myself a pat on the back for discovering this one on my own. I will make the leap and call it a classic. Even James Caan has a pretty significant role in it, giving it the push it needed to go from good to elite. And the Ramsey girl is eye candy for sure

Check it out

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In "Middle Men", Luke Wilson is a man caught in the middle between legitimate businesses and pornography. Both he and the film are caught somewhere between a documentary and a porno. With an interesting enough story about the beginnings of internet commerce, the film probably gets enough facts right to be able to say, "based on a true story".

Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht humorously play two drugged out "geniuses" with lots of ideas but no sense. When they create internet commerce and apply it to pornography they need straight man Jack Harris (Wilson) to turn it into a legit business. But before long they get him caught up in a world of money, drugs and porn stars, and then everybody needs help climbing out of that. Even the film. It loses some of its structure as we meet Russian mobsters, beautiful women and more money than you can even keep track of.

"Middle Men" is particularly well acted and interesting enough especially about a recent historical story that isn't very well known, that it can mostly be forgiven for its poor structure and confusion of genres. In between the documentary and pornography, we have comedy, crime and drama, and most other genres you can name.

'Middle Men' is not entirely true yet a fantasy created combining true events. As a viewer I have no idea which is really true and which is fiction but one thing true is that it's never boring.

Buck and Wayne are two genius guys who actually don't know that they are about to become millionaires by creating world's first porn site which requires a membership payment to access. They seem to be having everything but lacking some important aspects like living sober and teamwork. Though they come up with this great idea they practically manages to screw everything up within months by not knowing decent business ethics and keeping up the promises to the partners. This is where Jack Harris comes in who is a legit business man and a problem solver who turns the already million dollar porn business in to new heights by creating a middle party online billing concept. These 3 people who ultimately become victims of their own success, and digs deep in to unknown territory getting involved with very dangerous people.

The story telling is quite catchy in 'Middle Men'. It's fast phased and cannot be backtracked if you miss a line yet gives mood to the whole plot. It starts from the end and finishes from the end. The middle is the beginning! Buck and Wayne played by Gabriel Macht and Giovanni Ribisi respectively are two unique characters. They practically create the cash and demolish everything skillfully. Jack on the other hand played by Luke Wilson is an intelligent businessman who stops at nothing when he wants to achieve something. The whole plot is a struggle between these 3 people who just fails to find common ground even though they keep on earning millions of money by doing the same thing.

There is a kind of rush throughout the movie. This is created strongly using sex and money hand in hand with crime and desire. You will feel like each of these people are time bombs which is about to blow up eventually. Yet they exist like they will live forever. Except Jack who does a very smart move by creating an opportunity of out a grave danger.

A good load of entertainment and some background info on how internet porn and billing has come to light from 80s. It's never good to forget the history coz the future is shapes upon it!

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