Middle Men
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Middle Men |
| Original title | Middle Men |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2009 |
| length | 108 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | George Gallo |
| script | George Gallo, Andy Weiss |
| production |
Christopher Mallick , William Sherak , Jason Shuman , Michael Weiss |
| music | Brian Tyler |
| camera | Lukas Ettlin |
| cut | Malcolm Campbell |
| occupation | |
| |
Middle Men is an American tragicomedy from the year 2009 the director George Gallo . The main roles were played by Luke Wilson , Giovanni Ribisi , Gabriel Macht and James Caan .
The film, which is partly based on true events from the life of ePassporte founder Christopher Mallick , tells the story of pornography on the Internet . Mallick also acted as one of the producers on the film.
action
The businessman Jack Harris goes to a meeting with Russian gangsters, where he wants to exchange several million US dollars for a kidnapped child. While driving, he wonders how it “got to this point” and what brought him into this situation. In retrospect, Harris tells his story.
In 1997, unemployed inventors Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby live in a shabby apartment in Los Angeles . Both lost their jobs as veterinarians and scientists at NASA after excesses due to their drug addiction . Beering is annoyed that he cannot find any decent pornographic photos or videos on the Internet. After a solid dispute, they quickly decide to put some photos online and offer this Internet pornography as a service for a fee. Dolby programs the missing program for secure billing with credit cards itself in a short time.
At the same time Harris flies to LA, where he helps a friend who has had an accident with the continuation of his nightclub. He does n't really want to leave his family in Houston and initially only takes over the job for a short time for financial reasons.
Meanwhile, the Beering and Dolby porn site is proving to be a real gold mine. They sell numerous subscriptions for $ 9.99 after a short start-up period and make a fortune in a few days. However, the first complaints from subscribers that not enough new material are made available are also increasing. The two then visit a strip club run by the Russian mafia and enter into an agreement with their boss Nikita Sokoloff. They receive videos of the strippers and in return they deliver 25% of their earnings to the Russians for life. With the new material, subscriber numbers are skyrocketing, with the two of them soon earning $ 25,000 a day. Beering and Dolby go to Las Vegas and celebrate their triumph there.
Harris meets attorney Jerry Haggerty after the nightclub's successful renovation. He invites him to Las Vegas and introduces him to the two porn producers. They urgently need Harris' problem-solving skills. After partying in a hotel in Las Vegas for several nights while intoxicated, they forgot to pay their Russian business partners and were beaten up by them and threatened with death. Harris doesn't want anything to do with the porn industry, but Haggerty convinces him that he isn't a porn producer, but a classic entrepreneur.
Harris met Beering and Dolby and agreed that they would start a business. They are not supposed to produce their own pornography, but are merely the middlemen for the discreet billing. To do this, they want to show entertainment offers on their credit card statements to protect their customers. However, Harris does not trust Haggerty and pays him off before the start of the action.
Meanwhile, the Russians want the money they have not received to be paid out in full. The three receive a visit from Sokoloff's cousin Ivan. While handing over the money, this Harris' son threatens Michael. Harris' bouncer friend James wants to punish the Russian for the threat and hits him in the face. Although the blow wasn't particularly hard, Ivan shortly afterwards bleeds from his ear, collapses over a glass table, and dies. In a panic, they sink the corpse into the sea. Harris obliges Beering and Dolby as well as the bouncers involved to keep quiet.
During a visit to Houston, Harris tells his wife Diana about his new company. She doesn't want anything to do with this business. In Vegas, Harris is picked up at the airport by Nikita Sokoloff, who asks him about the disappearance of his cousin. Harris sticks to his version that he left the house with the $ 450,000. Sokoloff tells him that he only owed $ 200,000. After almost an exchange of fire with Harris bouncers, a monthly payment is agreed. Ivan's disappearance is not discussed further. Harris fears, however, that Beering and Dolby will talk about the incident at some point.
Harris is becoming increasingly estranged from his wife, who is no longer content with generous gifts instead of an intact family life. At a porn industry event, Harris meets and sleeps with the porn actress Audrey Dawns. When he meets his wife again, Harris shows no interest in sex. Diana suspects he is cheating and wants a divorce. Harris returns to Vegas and begins a relationship with Dawns, although he still loves his wife.
Haggerty, a lawyer, has not forgiven Harris for getting out of the multi-million dollar business and is planning an intrigue behind his back. He introduces the seedy programmer Denny Z to Beering and Dolby. Together they create more porn sites that Harris no longer has a share in the profits of.
At a meeting at the racecourse, Sokoloff points out to Harris that he is being shadowed by FBI agents in a rather amateurish way. Along the way, Harris also learns that Dawns used to work as a stripper at Sokoloff's nightclub and that lawyer Haggerty cheated her out of a significant amount of money in her first porn company. So far he was not aware of any connection between the Russians and Haggerty. Harris now realizes that Ivan worked with Haggerty and that Haggerty therefore wanted to collect the $ 450,000 instead of the $ 200,000 in debt. He confronts Haggerty with these findings. The lawyer puts Ivan's murder on him, which Harris denies.
Meanwhile, the FBI agents contact Dawns. Obviously, some terrorists are big fans of their side. Their whereabouts can be identified while logging in. The FBI therefore proposes a partnership. At the same time, Beering and Dolby discover that Denny Z has sex videos of a minor on a site and that they run the risk of being charged with child pornography distribution . When they observe a conversation between Harris and the FBI agents in the office, they suspect that they are already under surveillance and that Harris is cooperating with the authorities. In fact, however, Harris is talking to the agents about the fight against terrorism.
Beering and Dolby trust Haggerty, who now sees an opportunity to take revenge on Harris. After hearing about Denny Z's minors, Harris hits him at a party and shoots him in the foot. Leaving the house, he sees Dawns with two male porn actors. When she returns, he throws her out of the house.
The FBI has meanwhile located and killed over 100 terrorists with its help. As a thank you, the FBI agent informs him of the child pornography investigation and that they have been informed of the murder of Ivan Sokoloff but will not pursue it. Sokoloff's men break into Harris 'Houston house and mistakenly kidnap Alejandro, the housekeeper' s son, instead of Michael Harris. Harris now decides to buy it out for a substantial sum of money and then to get out of the business for good.
At the handover, Harris not only has to hand over the money, but is also forced to sign pre-designed contracts from Haggerty to hand over the company. He remembers the investigation into child pornography and asks under a tax pretext to backdate the contract. Haggerty agrees, assuming the child porn site has been shut down and it makes no difference. After the signing, however, Sokoloff shoots Haggerty, which means that the company passes to him, as well as Beering and Dolby. Jack returns to his family with the child.
Beering and Wayne are questioned by the FBI and taken into custody based on the backdated contracts. However, they can assign the majority of the blame to Denny Z and only have to serve 18 months of a 5-year prison sentence. Sokoloff evades arrest and is suspected by Moscow authorities . Dawns continues to work as a porn actress. Jack and Diana Harris are not getting divorced and live together again.
background
The film flopped massively in the United States, grossing just $ 754,000 on a budget of over $ 20 million. The film was not a great success in the UK either.
The film was released in Germany on July 21, 2011 as direct-to-DVD / Blu-ray .
reception
The film received average reviews. The Rotten Tomatoes film website has an average rating of 40%. The film benefits from solid acting performances, especially that of Luke Wilson, but suffers from a confused script.
The lexicon of international films also rated the film as mediocre:
"Tragic comedy based on actual events that remains on the surface and neglects the development of the characters."
The criticism of the New York Post was much more positive . Middle Men don't quite reach their goal of becoming the boogie nights of internet pornography, but thanks to good actors and hard dialogues they are amusing and entertaining. Despite the complex and confusing flashbacks, the reviewer rated the film 3 out of 4 stars. Even the Rolling Stone awarded a good rating and praised Wilson's drama. Variety called the film an "undeniably fascinating" mixture of Boogie Nights and Goodfellas with clear reminiscences of the work of Martin Scorsese .
Also Cinema.de praised Gallos "mixture of biopic and gangster drama":
"Despite some overloaded moments: appealing and briskly told gangster drama about hypocrisy, power and the greed for big money."
Web links
- Middle Men in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official page for the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ A Chat With Producer and E-Commerce Pioneer Christopher Mallick of “Middle Men” at premiumhollywood.com, accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ Middle Men at boxofficemojo.com, accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ Why did Middle Men sink in the UK? at guardian.co.uk, accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ Middle Men at rottentomatoes.com, accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ Middle Men in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ a b Download & dirty at nypost.com, accessed April 17, 2012
- ^ Middle Men at rollingstone.com, accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ Middle Men ( Memento of the original from November 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at variety.com, accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ Middle Men at cinema.de, accessed on April 17, 2012
