BLU-RAY REVIEW

Middle Men

Featured In Issue 154, February 2011

Picture4.5
Sound4.5
WSR Score3
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Paramount Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
14087
(MPAA Rating):
R
(Rating Reason):
Strong sexual content, nudity, language, drug use and violence
(Retail Price):
$29.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
112
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
2009
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
02/08/11
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
George Gallo
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
DTS HD Lossless 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

Middle Men is a bizarre and humorous story about an ordinary businessman who becomes embroiled in a dark and dangerous world of questionable morals and organized crime during the early days of the World Wide Web. Jack Harris (Wilson), a man with a beautiful family, a successful career, and an idyllic life, gets involved with two troubled geniuses (Ribisi and Macht), who need business advice on getting their Internet scheme off the ground. Soon Jack finds himself surrounded by con men, mobsters, and other unsavory characters as he struggles with his conscience...and becomes one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of his time. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary by Director George Gallo, Editor Malcolm Campbell, and Cinematographer Lukas Ettlin; three deleted scenes (SD 05:48); outtakes (SD 01:40); and a slap montage (SD 0:57).

The 1080p AVC picture exhibits a generally natural appearance, with a warm and rich color palette, accurate fleshtones, deep blacks, and revealing shadow delineation. Resolution is nicely rendered, though, at times the imagery appears slightly soft. Overall, this is a very pleasing picture experience that projects stimulating imagery. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is musically aggressive, with a variety of styles and an aggressive enveloping soundfield presence. Well recorded and presented, the music is the foundation element to the flow of the storytelling. The narration overrides the music and is well balanced in weight. Dialogue sounds natural throughout, with acceptable spatial integration. Sound effects and atmospheric effects sound a bit subdued, except for a few transitional moments, compared to the music and dialogue, but nevertheless enhances the overall experience. Bass, at times, is deep and powerful, extending to sub-25 Hz in the .1 LFE channel. The sound is entertaining and nicely complementary to the storytelling. (Gary Reber)