Middle Men (2009)

Chronicles Jack Harris, one of the pioneers of internet commerce, as he wrestles with his morals, and struggles not to drown in a sea of con men, mobsters, drug addicts, and porn stars.

Director:

George Gallo

Writers:

George Gallo, Andy Weiss

Stars:

Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Wilson	...	Jack Harris
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Wayne Beering
Gabriel Macht	...	Buck Dolby
James Caan	...	Jerry Haggerty
Jacinda Barrett	...	Diana Harris
Kevin Pollak	...	Curt Allmans
Laura Ramsey	...	Audrey Dawns
Rade Serbedzija	...	Nikita Sokoloff
Terry Crews	...	James
Kelsey Grammer	...	Frank Griffin
Graham McTavish	...	Ivan Sokoloff
Robert Forster	...	Louie LA LA
John Ashton	...	Morgan
Jason Antoon	...	Denny Z
Martin Kove	...	US Senator

Storyline

Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby are drugged out geniuses with lots of ideas but they can never seem to get their act together. But when they come up with the idea to create a porn site - and charge for it (the first ever site to do so), their idea may be too lucrative for them to handle. Straight-laced business man, Jack Harris, is brought in to team up with them and turn their profitable idea into a legit business. Making money in the pornography industry is pretty easy, but staying true to yourself when surrounded by that much wealth, luxury, sex, crime and temptations, is much harder.

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Plot Keywords:

bare breasts | female nudity | topless female nudity | female rear nudity | nudity | 

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Taglines:

Money. Sex. Murder. Greed. Corruption.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language, drug use and violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film reunites George Gallo with John Ashton and Robert Forster since their participation in Trapped in Paradise (1994) and 29th Street (1991) respectively.

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Goofs

At several points in the film that are clearly dated 1997-1998 individuals are shown driving a Cadillac Escalade. The Cadillac Escalade was not manufactured and sold until 1999; and furthermore the model shown in the film is actually the redesigned version that was introduced as the 2002 model in January of 2001.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jack Harris: [narrating] I had several million dollars in a duffle bag and had to go and see a bunch of low-life Russian mobsters who would most likely cut my throat, take the money, and kill an innocent kid just for sport. It doesn't get any worse than this. But I had no one to blame but myself. I'm the one who put myself and my family in this situation.
Jack Harris: See, life's all about choices, choices we keep telling ourselves are for the greater good. But somewhere deep inside, we know they'll lead to a...
[...]

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Connections

References Splendor in the Grass (1961)

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Soundtracks

You Make My Dreams
Written by Sara Allen, Daryl Hall (as Darryl Hall) and John Oates
Performed by Hall & Oates
Courtesy of the RCA Records Label
By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User Reviews

True story about the men who got rich off internet porn. If it wasn't true I wouldn't have believed it. A good time. I say B+

A true story about the men who came up with the idea to sell adult entertainment off the internet. After two slackers (Ribisi & Gabriel Macht) make over a million dollars in two months by coming up with a program to make money off of internet porn the Russian mob wants their cut. They become partners with Jack Harris (Wilson) who takes their business in to a legit area and makes them more money then they dreamed of. This movie really surprised me in the fact that I was expecting a straight comedy. While this movie had its really funny moments its also dramatic throughout. An amazing cast helps tell the story of someone other then Mark Zuckerberg getting rich off the internet. The events that happen in the movie made me wonder why I've never heard of this guy before. Overall this was a very enjoyable movie and I highly recommend it. I give it a B+.

Would I watch again? - Yes, I definitely would

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 August 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Middle Men

Filming Locations:

Avondale, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$325,641, 8 August 2010

Gross USA:

$754,301

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$754,301

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Mallick Media, Oxymoron Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1