Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Michael Ledo JUST LIKE THE SOCIAL NETWORK except it had more nudity and was far less factual. Okay, maybe it wasn't like Social Network, other than the fact it is more popular, although no one admits to using it. This is "inspired" by a true story which means all the dialogue and most of the characters are fictional. Two genius drug user live together (Giovanni Ribisi plays an excellent paranoid on coke) and can't get any decent porn on the Internet so they decide to create their own web site and invent a program that allows people to pay on line with a credit card. They opt to get new material so they enlist the help of the Russian mafia. Luke Wilson plays a businessman and family man whose narration frequents the movie. He turns their web site into an Internet sensation by allowing access to multiple sites through their billing system.There is nudity and sex, but nothing that is over the top erotic. Was that Jesse Jane as one of those girls in the background?The film is front loaded with comedy. The movie starts to drag near the end, in fact whenever James Caan was on the screen, the movie went south. Don't get me wrong, Caan played a good part, it was just boring when he was on screen as compared to the action/comedy/drama going on during the rest of the film.

oneguyrambling If 'inspired by a true story' is taking one fact and making heaps of shtuff up around it then this review is 'inspired by a true story', in as much as I watched a film called Middle Men a few days ago and felt inspired enough to write about it.True story.Two alcoholic, drug abusing, going nowhere porn-addicts have a moment of clarity and decide the time has come that people… OK guys… need to pay for their online porn. At $9.99 a tissue, I mean subscription. Bastards! But even though the pair Wayne (Giovanni Ribisi) and Buck (Gabriel Macht) are perhaps smart enough to come up with this one Eureka! moment they are not very business savvy and are equally inept at selecting the most appropriate business partners, which explains why shortly after coming up with the idea they find themselves inextricably linked with the Russian Mob.In truth the early goings on of the film – not just the inept buddies – is all over the shop. With quick cuts, flash forwards and flashbacks it is extremely hard to keep track.Enter Jack Harris (Luke Wilson). Jack is a cool, calm and collected master of logic, skilled at negotiation and blessed with business acumen. He is also a family man with three kids and a pleasant wife who initially wants zero part in helping two dumb shmos make their porn-related venture more profitable… Until his logic once again kicks in and Jack realises just how much money there is to be made, he figures he'll stick around for a few years, get rich and retire to the lap of luxury with his family and morals intact.Wayne and Buck are high school buddies and initially are in deep enough trouble that they welcome Jack's assistance. Jack comes up with a plan to remove all extraneous and potentially dangerous personnel, reducing the number of paws reaching for profit.This means buying out the man who facilitated Jack's involvement, a seedy lawyer named Jerry Haggerty (James Caan), and the Russian Mob themselves. All sounds pretty nifty in theory.Unfortunately this is where I think the 'inspired by' kicks in. The payoff with the Russian mob goes desperately awry, dragging Jack further and deeper into the biz than he ever planned.As everyone knows the business of porn thrived on the internet though, and the business rakes in cash hand over fist. While Jack never really bonded with his business associates and Wayne and Buck never become business super-geniuses they did all enjoy the benefits of the trade. Money flows freely for all and they all indulge to varying degrees with the lifestyle that one might assume goes on with the high end of the porn game. After a while though Wayne and Buck start to resent Jack's mastery over all, and start looking at ways that they can cut side deals and sweeten the situation for themselves. (I understand too, once Jack moves in the last 90% of the film revolves entirely around him.) As they must in film further complications arise when Jack's wife twigs to his involvement, a young up and coming (pardon the pun) starlet moves into his radar and the FBI start scrutinising the business affairs. (There are even terrorists!) All the while Jack holds onto his own terrible secret and the Russians and the lawyer Jerry Haggerty work out how they can move in and get their own cut of the profits.Middle Men was an awesome red-band trailer a year or so ago. What red-blooded male is not going to be interested in a film that seriously deals with the porn industry's development – but at the same time isn't porn… Your Honour? With a near guarantee of nubile skin and the debauchery that goes along, Middle Men should have been a blank cheque for your mind to go to town guilt free, after all it is a drama… But while the boobies and bare ass are plentiful and all over the screen the interest just isn't, and all the cleavage-cam (and there is a lot) can't save that.Middle Men was made in 2009 and the red-band trailer I referred to came out early last year. For some reason they shelved the film for a while, no idea why but perhaps it was because they realised that it just isn't that good.Oh and as far as the concept of Luke Wilson as a master negotiating business tactician? Not so much… Final Rating – 5 / 10. Before anyone questions my hetero-ness I might point out that apparently the internet still has the capability of sourcing near-nude photos and video of real women, I just wouldn't have to sit through a boring two hour film to get to them.

meeza I was thinking about cutting off the "Middle Men" after I read some of its lackluster reviews. But some time later, I read some positive reviews of the movie. Since I did not want to get caught up in the middle, I said "why not"? It's our bill of rights to see movies that have an enticing premise like "Middle Men". Director George Gallo's movie is based on real life incidents of a businessman who joins up with a pair of rambunctious entrepreneurs to make millions from the internet pornography boom of the early 90's. As the film title discloses, the leading characters here are not pornography filmmakers who post videos/shows on the internet, but rather are the ones who run the billing companies which delivers services in a more anonymous form to its consumers and producers. Luke Wilson stars as Jack Harris, the aforementioned businessman who lives the "white picket fence" life in Houston with a beautiful wife and two children; but through a series of opportunistic events, he is porn to be alive in millions. The two men- child who Jack teams up with are drug addicts and best friends, Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby. Mind you one was a former astronaut and the other one a former veterinarian, and oddly enough actually originated the premise of developing online porn sites. However, for the most part, the former astronaut & veterinarian behave more like spaced-out animals due to their drug binges. Since the movie's primary theme is the underbelly of the internet porn industry, you could imagine how many testosterone-driven shady characters are in "Middle Men"; including a Russian Mafia mob boss, an unscrupulous lawyer, and a hypocritical governor; just to name a few. I was taken back by the first hour of "Middle Men" in Director George Gallo's flawless depiction of the era of the internet where successful internet entrepreneurship was booming due to lack of competition, and even a (pardon the expression) jerk-off could make millions with a simplistic idea to make money online. However, Gallo's second hand I mean second half of "Middle Men" seemed more like an action-fare "Bad Boys" than an authentic portrayal of an internet-based company flourishing & surviving in the next era of the world wide web. Gallo does a nice job in hardening the focus of the narrative of "Middle Men" on its central figure, Jack Harris. And Gallo and Co-Writer Andy Weiss' screenplay is rather wise mostly due to Harris' dialogue in the voice-over narration, which keeps the viewer engaged to the story. But then again, Gallo and Weiss' screenplay sporadically misfired with the whole "shoot em up" action shenanigans. Wilson deserved more than the "down the middle" ratings he got for his solid performance as Harris. Giovanni Ribisi was a scene-stealer as the volatile Wayne Beering. Gabriel Macht as Buck Dolby did connect well enough for a Dolby resounding performance acknowledgement. However, the thespian kudos ends there for "Middle Men". Jacinda Barrett as Jack's wife Diana seemed like she was playing the same character as the one she portrayed in "The Last Kiss". I think the James Caan Film Festival of Glory is passed its prime; I know we are talking about Sonny Corleone here, but Caan's performance as the conniving lawyer Jerry Haggerty was profoundly silly and pretentious. Rade Serbedziga, who was so great in "Eyes Wide Shut", was not a hit this time around as the prototypical formulaic Russian Mafia mob boss named (yea you guessed it…) Nikita. "Middle Men" is a movie that is not for everyone, and those who came to expect another "Boogie Nights" will be disappointed; but those who came for a narrative on those who drove the business of internet porn during its early years, will be mostly satisfied with the service that "Middle Men" provides. **** Good

Matt_Layden The "Inspired By True Events" telling how how one man became filthy rich off transactions between distributors and customers of the porn industry, via the internet. I don't know how true the story is since the man the film is based on is also the producer, I would embellish a few points as well to make my life seem more interesting. Still, the film does an okay job at telling the tale of how he became a multi-millionaire, got in trouble with the FBI and got away squeaky clean while everyone else got theirs. Luke Wilson plays the lead character, a guy who people go to when they need some help with a business problem. Gabriel Macht and Giovanni Ribisi play two idiots who come up with the brilliant idea of charging people for looking at porn on the internet, apparently one of these guys is the one responsible for writing the code that allows internet companies like Amazon and Ebay, as well as online banks, take your credit card number and bill it. So, the term idiot isn't exactly the right one, but they do manage to screw it up, snort away tons of money and be in debt to the Russian mobster known as Nikita Sokoloff, who can only be played by one man, Rade Serbedzija. So Wilson is brought into play to help get the business back on track, he is the one who comes up with the idea to be the middle man. Don't make the porn, just be the company who bills the customer. No one wants their bill to say Big Boobs, or some other dirty things I probably can't say here. Why not 24/7 billing, something nice and clean. So they end up raking in millions and millions. Of course they can't make all this money and live a happy life, where is the excitement in that?So there happens to be an accidental death, the two guys who came up with the idea get more and more paranoid and accidentally end up involved in a child porn site, Wilson helps the government assassinate terrorists and James Caan shows up as a slimy lawyer...are there any other kind though? So a lot of stuff happens in the film and this guys life, things just seem to get out of hand and crazier each day. Which of course takes a toll on his marriage and family back home. A well put together film with an interesting topic. The overall film feels a bit short in it's reach to achieve success though. Wilson doesn't really stand out even though he is given the chance to. Giovanni Ribisi is the one here who seems to be having the most fun with his role, I would have like him to be a bit more paranoid though. Kevin Pollack shows up in a small role as an FBI agent as well as Kelsey Grammar as a man running for office. As well done as the film is, it doesn't stand out when it should. It becomes mediocre and forgettable as every concludes. The film never got attention and yes it's sad, but it's also evident why. There is nothing special about it. Even if it is better than half the trash we see today.