Paramount | 2009 | 112 mins. | R
It’s hard to believe now, but there was actually a time during the early days of the internet (the early to mid ‘90’s), when people wondered if the technology would ever really take off. One big issue was how to make real money off of it. I mean, we all know, things that don’t make money eventually fade into obscurity.
In retrospect, it seems inevitable that it was the online pornographers who were the first to figure out to how to safely and securely take credit card numbers over the web. In other words, it was porn that made all e-commerce truly viable, including Amazon and eBay. Middle Men is the fictionalized story of how that happened, and how those they got in, seriously over their heads.
Former NASA scientist Buck Dolby (Gabriel Macht) and former veterinarian Wayne Beering (Giovanni Ribisi) have come up with an idea that will revolutionize World Wide Web. Plaster nudie pictures all over it! These two are terrible businessmen, but Buck the rock scientist has the smarts to write a program that takes people’s credit card numbers online – the first technology of its kind. Naturally, the orders start coming in fast. The only problem is, Wayne and Buck’s porn is limited to images they can scan from magazines. They soon realize they’re going to have to find a way to produce their own product.
The guys head to a local strip club and partner with Russian mob owner (Rade Serbedzija) to film his strippers to use on their website. The two newly minted millionaires blow most of their money in Vegas. As a result, family man Jack Harris (Luke Wilson) is called in to clean up the mess. He does his best to convince Buck and Wayne to do things above board—get out of the porn business and only deal in the transaction side of things; serve as “middle men” between the content providers and the consumers. Jack’s idea is spot on, and the guys get even richer. However, new problems arise when Jack falls prey to a lifestyle of casual sex and violence.
I suppose comparisons to Boogie Nights are inevitable. They are similar in the sense that they both explore the rise to prominence of porn entrepreneurs, only to eventually watch things turn dark and unseemly. Middle Men is a dark, occasionally funny film. While the overall product lacks the brilliance of Boogie Nights, viewers are treated to a behind-the scenes view of the porn industry at the start of the digital age. Director George Gallo deftly handles the issues of money, greed, sex and drugs without losing sight of the characters roles as internet pioneers.
As you may have guessed, Middle Men isn’t a film for everyone. It deals with mature subject matter without pulling punches. While the film isn’t overly raunchy—we are dealing with pornography and little is held back here. For those who are interested, Middle Men showcases some fine performances not only from leads Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, and Gabriel Macht, but from actors who play secondary characters, including James Caan, Kelsey Grammer, Kevin Pollak, and Laura Ramsey.
The 2.35:1 AVC-encoded Blu-ray disc isn’t great. Perhaps the filmmakers wanted to emphasize the porn setting, because the colors are oversaturated. Occasionally, the image looks realistic; most of the time it looks too bright or dark. Object delineation and inner detailing range from average to excellent, but there is no evidence of edge enhancement or filtering.
The DTS-HD Master Audio lossless 5.1 surround track is decent. It includes environmental sounds and the low murmur of bass in clubs and even a hint of low-end fidelity when needed. Directional effects and channel panning are at a minimum, but dialogue sounds consistent through much of the production and stays in the center channel.
The special features are in standard definition.
We start with an audio by director George Gallo, editor Malcolm Campbell, and cinematographer Lukas Ettlin. Gallo recollects a particular shooting day, though it’s nothing special. After that are three deleted scenes in non-anamorphic widescreen, totaling almost six minutes; about two minutes of outtakes; and a one-minute “Slap Montage,” which collects together all the times the characters in the movie slap each other.
[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Video:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Audio:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Extras:” rating=”2.0/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Film Value:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″] [/xrrgroup]
