For the fine folks over at Moving Pictures, I reviewed Middle Men.
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| In 1995, an entirely different paradigm existed: Beneath every TV was a VCR; music was available only in stores; and the World Wide Web, accessible primarily through dial-up modems, began its assault on the masses. As with nearly every other popular medium, the burgeoning Internet looked to pornography for the development of the needed revenue streams. With the middling “Middle Men,” director George Gallo (“Homeland Security”) recounts the wild story behind the men who spawned the online financial revolution. |
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| Based on the experiences of Christopher Mallick, one of the film’s producers, “Middle Men” lacks the comedic dark edge required for such an outlandish and apparently true tale. The violence, sex and humor all languish in the middle, a limbo of non-engagement. The screenplay, co-written by Gallo and Andy Weiss (“Punk’d”), relies far too much on Wilson’s voice-over, creating an emotional disconnect as the film tends to tell rather than show. |
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| Much as in the superior “Boogie Nights,” Gallo wisely renders the abundant nudity sterile, plastic and not at all enticing. In another wise move, the movie lacks a romantic sex scene, though the story could easily have accommodated one. |