'Middle Men'

'Middle Men' (R) (2 stars)

Writers: George Gallo and Andy Weiss
Director: George Gallo
Starring: Luke Wilson, Gabriel Macht, Giovanni Ribisi, Jacinda Barrett, Laura Ramsey, Rade Serbedzija, Kevin Pollack, John Ashton, Kelsey Grammer, Robert Forster, Terry Crews, James Caan

For a movie about Internet Porn founders "Middle Men" is safe and dull. There is not an original bone in it's body, I kept thinking of a neutered "Good Fellas" rip off. The material is there to intrigue us but it is done in such a predictable way that I lost interest fast. Luke Wilson does a fine job as one of the creators of PayPal which is a front for paying for porn on your computer. The movie starts out very wrong with a lifeless and terrible voice over narration by Wilson that resembles Ray Liotta's one in "Good Fellas" except I thought Wilson was falling asleep. Wilson's character gets involved with two lowlifes played by Ribisi and Macht who overact. They also get involved with gangsters and thugs just like the ones in "Good Fellas" but with nothing that grabs our attention. The women in this film are shallowly written including the standard porn star portrayed much better in "Boogie Nights" and the wife who is your typical movie wife who stands in the background. I was surprised this movie was so boring because the co-writer and director George Gallo wrote one of the best comedies and action films of the 80's in "Midnight Run". This movie has no life, no characters we care about and no reason really to be made. It goes through the motions and gives us nothing original to engage us. "Middle Men" needs an injection of color and excitement.