Middle Men (George Gallo, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Gillian Weiner. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

What a perfect movie for the closing night of the Santa Barbara Film Festival. “Middle Men” is about a very sweet, family/business man who in hopes of helping a friend out gets caught up and very much part of building the first online billing company that deals mainly with the adult entertainment industry. However, through starting that company he finds himself dealing with all types of characters that make him question himself, his business as well as his prized family and marriage.

Sounds funny? It was! Luke Wilson plays Jack Harris; his performance was stellar. It was almost like every joke he made was off the cuff and completely improvised. What made the movie great in my eyes was the cast mixed with the understated, totally hilarious writing. If I wasn’t laughing out loud I was smiling the whole entire time. Playing opposite Wilson was Giovanni Ribisi (Wayne Beering) and Gabriel Macht (Buck Dolby). This hilarious threesome had comedic timing like no other. Wayne and Buck are the actual two who started the billing company but were such screw-up they needed someone to step in and help them. Both Giovanni and Gabriel played idiots so well it was hard not to laugh the whole time. Wilson was amazing to watch because he was so calm, cool and collected (most of the time), that you just were at the edge of your seat waiting to see what would happen. Never have I enjoyed Luke Wilson more then I did in this film.

The music was perfect in this movie. It fit in so well with the vibe and the places the characters went; from strip clubs to Vegas, the music was key to setting the mood.

What was awesome about this film was that it carried so much sex appeal and it could have been done over the top and too exotic but it wasn’t. It had the perfect amount of humor and sarcasm as well as sex and drama.

The most hilarious part of the movie involved the characters Wayne and Buck. As they become richer, more drugged out, and deeper in FBI trouble their appearances become more and more ridiculous. Piercing and bad blonde dye jobs become more apparent and more hilarious with those two.

I felt really fortunate to have seen this movie before it was released in theatres. The director before showing the movie thanked everyone for giving him the opportunity to have made his dream movie. This was refreshing to hear and made me that much more excited to see the film. I recommend it!

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Published:
02.22.10 / 7pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2010