Middle Men

Comedy, Drama
3.5 stars
Smart story about two dense idiots who had the jackpot idea of putting porn on the internet. Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht co-star as the underachievers who come up with the idea to put porn on the internet but lack the business know-how to keep on top of it all. Enter Luke Wilson as a sort of a business “fixer” who helps them get organized. Mix in some Russian mafia, along with a hilarious FBI side-story, and it’s actually a very smartly told story. Thankfully the movie didn’t focus on the sleaze, though it is present in the background throughout (it’s more “Playboy bunny sleaze” rather than anything too hard core). Co-stars James Caan as a ne’er do well. It claims to be “based” on a true story, but I have to believe the bulk of the story is fiction. As I said, a smartly told tale.