Middle Men (film)

Middle Men is a 2009 American drama film directed by George Gallo and written by Gallo and Andy Weiss. It stars Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht and James Caan. The movie is based on the experiences of Christopher Mallick who was previously associated with the internet billing companies Paycom and ePassporte. Christopher Mallick has been accused of stealing millions of dollars from his customers at ePassporte to fund the creation of the film.

Plot
In 2004 Houston, Jack Harris drives with several million dollars in a duffel bag to deliver to Russian mobsters, worried about the safety of his wife Diana and their children.

In 1997 Los Angeles, Jack has a reputation for solving problems, and helps a sick friend co-managing a nightclub. Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby are best friends renting together. The drug-addicted friends are discussing pornography and Wayne asks why you cannot buy porn on the internet. Buck, a former NASA scientist, takes 15 minutes to create a program to allow online credit card transactions to charge people for looking at porn on their website. They earn thousands of dollars in a matter of days. Needing more porn they approach Nikita Sokoloff, a Russian mob boss who owns a local strip club, who agrees to 25% of their business in return for letting them photograph and film his strippers.

Buck and Wayne's website is successful and they party in Las Vegas while neglecting to make payments to Sokoloff. Jack has made the L.A. nightclub a success and attracts the attention of Jerry Haggerty, a crooked lawyer hired by Wayne and Buck to sort out their problem with Sokoloff. Jack meets the friends and becomes a partner in the business, but not wanting to be a pornographer recommends they instead they become middle men and take a cut of the money transfers. Jack pays off Haggerty $200,000, knowing Haggerty is under federal indictment and a threat to the business.

Sokoloff's nephew comes to collect his $400,000 profit, but when he threatens to kill Jack's family, one of Jack's body guards punches his head so hard that he starts bleeding from his ear and falls dead. Jack and his partners dump the body in the ocean and fabricate a story that Sokoloff's nephew took the money and ran. Sokoloff is skeptical, but agrees to let it pass in return for an increase to 50% of the partnership.

Jack expands the business by focusing on the online credit card billing services. They create a billing company called "24/7 billing.com", becoming the titular Middle Men for other internet-based porn providers. The billing business is making hundreds of millions of dollars within a year. Jack becomes addicted to the money, sex and power of his new lifestyle, spends little time with his Houston family and starts a relationship with porn star Audrey Dawns.

Haggerty, bitter that Jack cut him out of what has become a multimillion-dollar partnership, schemes to take over the company. He manipulates the foolish Wayne and Buck to work with Denny Z, providing billing services for Denny's websites which include child pornography.

Audrey's live stream porn site is watched by an international web of terrorists, which the US government uses to track and arrest or kill the terrorists. The FBI asks for Jack and Audrey's help to expand their terrorist hunt, but Wayne and Buck fear that Jack is meeting with the FBI to turn them in for the murder of Sokoloff's nephew and the child porn. The two confide in Haggerty about killing Sokoloff's nephew, which Haggerty uses to incite Sokoloff to make a move on Jack.

When Jack finds out that his partners are helping facilitate Denny Z's child porn, he confronts Denny Z at a house party. Jack sees Audrey having sex with two men at the party and realizes how much he misses his family, leading him to break up with Audrey.

An FBI agent, appreciative of the help Jack has given the government, warns him that 24/7billing.com is about to be indicted for supporting child porn. Jack's life is further complicated when Sokoloff's men kidnap his maid's son, who they believe is Jack's son. Jack gathers up several million dollars and goes to meet Sokoloff, as seen at the start of the film.

Jack is told that the boy will be released if he signs a contract giving his partnership share to Wayne, Buck, Sokoloff, and Haggerty. Jack signs the agreement but asks to backdate it six months, claiming he wants to avoid taxes. Sokoloff kills Haggerty, but lets Jack go in recognition for all the money he has made him.

Jack's FBI contact charges, Wayne and Buck with providing billing services for child porn. Jack avoids charges having sold the company before the crime. Sokoloff flees the country. Jack and the maid's son return home, and Diane welcomes Jack back.

Release
Middle Men was released on August 6, 2010.

The first official theatrical trailer for the film was released on June 16, 2010.

A red band trailer was released on July 10, 2010.

A long take sequence taking place at an orgy was cut from the film. The scene's inclusion would have pushed the film from an R rating to an NC17 rating. The scene was subsequently leaked to adult video clip website Pornhub. It was subsequently included on the home-video release.

Reception
The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 40% based on 50 reviews. The sites consensus states "Middle Men benefits from a solid cast, particularly Luke Wilson, but its muddled script lets them down". Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 60% based on reviews from 20 critics.

The film grossed only $754,301 at the box office during its three-week run. The budget was $20 million.

Home media
Middle Men was released February 8, 2011.

Music
Two soundtrack albums were released, both on August 3, 2010: Middle Men: Original Motion Picture Score, composed by Brian Tyler, and Middle Men: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, collecting songs used in the film.
 * Score


 * Soundtrack