The Prime Gig (2000)

A telesales con man finds the ultimate racket, but starting an affair with the girlfriend of his guru-like boss might be the wrong call.

Director:

Gregory Mosher

Writer:

William Wheeler

Stars:

Vince Vaughn, Julia Ormond, Ed Harris

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vince Vaughn	...	Pendelton 'Penny' Wise
Julia Ormond	...	Caitlin Carlson
Ed Harris	...	Kelly Grant
Rory Cochrane	...	Joel
Wallace Shawn	...	Gene
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Mick
George Wendt	...	Archie
Jeannetta Arnette	...	Cheryl
Shishir Kurup	...	Sujat
Harper Roisman	...	Harry
J.J. Johnston	...	Lloyd
Tom Wright	...	Marvin Sanders
Romany Malco	...	Zeke (as Romany Malco Jr.)
Brian George	...	Nasser
Amber Benson	...	Batgirl

Storyline

Pendelton "Penny" Wise is a smooth-talking con-artist who makes a living by scamming people with phony travel comp vacations over the phone when, desperate for more fast cash, he's called to work for a shady, veteran con businessman, named Kelly Grant, in selling property for a gold mine over the phone, which takes a turn when Penny begins a relationship with Grant's mistress Caitlin, where Penny throws common sense and caution to the wind to woo her, while we wonder who is scamming who here.

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Plot Keywords:

gold mine | con artist | salesman | con game | telephone | 

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Taglines:

Too much is never enough.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexuality

Did You Know?

Quotes

Penny: Get your Balls out of your wife's purse and write me a fucking check.

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Connections

References Soul Train (1971)

User Reviews

I liked it enough

I had no idea what to expect from this movie. It just happened to be on cable and Vince was in it, so I watched.

I liked the portrayal of each character in this film. Greed, desperation, betrayal...I found myself disgusted with some of the characters, mainly Julia Ormond and Ed Harris. I can't stand Julia Ormond so to watch her as a conniving shrew was quite satisfying. If you can't stomach the dark underbelly of human behavior,and watching how bad someone can screw over another person, than this film's not for you. At the end I found myself bummed out - but that's not necessarily so bad. You need to be in the right mood to watch this. It's low-key, though not boring and definitely not a 'feel good' film. I can understand how some people didn't like it, but I think Vince Vaughn fans will be happy enough (I'm one myself).

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 2002 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Coup monté

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$94,938

Company Credits

Production Co:

Independent Pictures (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1