Not much inspiration in 'Middle Men'

Set mostly during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the crime drama "Middle Men" is offering a front-row seat to a historical moment: the birth of Internet pornography. That's a tall claim, especially from a movie that opens with these words: "Inspired by a true story."

All very tantalizing, except that Internet porn has been around since at least the 1980s, long before this movie's narrative begins. And it turns out that the "inspiration" comes from nothing more historical than some colorful tales told by one of the film's producers. So much for that front-row seat.

In "Middle Men," the budding entrepreneurs are two coke-snorting numskulls, Buck (Gabriel Macht) and Wayne (Giovanni Ribisi). Through sheer incompetence they end up indebted to a Russian mobster (Rade Sherbedgia), which is where Jack Harris (a dour Luke Wilson) comes in. A semi-respectable business consultant, Jack fixes everything with gentle words and hard cash. That works miracles, until it doesn't.

Whenever "Middle Men" finds its groove, it manages to generate moments of real tension. But director George Gallo is mostly intent on remaking both "Boogie Nights," with Jack sinking into the dark glamour of porn, and "GoodFellas," with Jack running around to the strains of the Rolling Stones.

At least the latter movie's protagonist, real-life mobster Henry Hill, seemed cognizant of his compromised morality. Jack is a convenient fiction, unable to smell his own sleaze. Perhaps that's fitting: The whole movie feels less than honest.