The Prime Gig

I love movies that feature clever scams. The cycle started with "The Sting" where the audience was no longer in the position of observer but was surprised to find that it had also been conned.

David Mamet has often visited the genre with the clever "House of Games", the intriguing "Homicide", the interesting "The Spanish Prisoner", and the very ordinary "Heist". Ridley Scott does it justice with "Matchstick Men", but not everyone can pull it off as the derivative and self-satisfied "Confidence" demonstrates.

"The Prime Gig" is one that gets it right, and it features Vince Vaughan in a role that stands comparison with his Jeremy Grey in "Wedding Crashers".

The movie takes a look inside the world of telemarketing. Our worst fears about the industry are realised when many of the techniques are revealed. The ethics of the sales people in this movie seem flexible at best or as one of the characters says, "The problem with telemarketing is that it is fundamentally evil because it is set up on selling some people some bulls*#t they don't need".

Pendleton 'Penny' Wise (Vince Vaughan) is a hot telephone sales guy. He shares an apartment with his physically handicapped friend, Joel (Rory Cochrane) who he also supports financially. When his current job ends abruptly, Penny gets the chance to work for Kelly Grant (Ed Harris) - a high end operator who is putting together a sales team, a room, to sell shares in a newly discovered gold mine.

Although Penny is not as overawed by Kelly Grant's reputation as his colleagues, he has a slow start. Finally, Penny gets into his stride and outsells everyone on the team, earning a fortune in commission. However, he complicates his life and compromises his relationship with Joel when he falls for Caitlin (Julia Ormond), Kelly Grant's girlfriend. Although Grant seems to accept the situation, we begin to wonder if Penny has dialled the wrong number.

Ed Harris is superb as usual and Julia Ormond is suitably enigmatic as Caitlin, but this is Vince Vaughan's movie. He lives and breathes his role as Penny. He brings his familiar screen persona to the table - the big, reassuring guy, quick with a one-liner who is not easily fazed. He's the one others look to when things go pear-shaped. However, Vince Vaughan has built a nicely rounded portrayal on that familiar character. Penny does have a conscience, and draws the line at ripping off vulnerable old ladies. He is also loyal to his friends - especially Joel.

The movie ends on a slightly ambiguous note. Although Penny thought he had the answers, he learns some lessons about human nature and human greed including his own.

"The Prime Gig" is a movie that seems to have got lost in the shuffle but it's a great little discovery, and is full of surprises; it's definitely one call worth answering.

This movie was total crap. I am quite embarrassed that there is record of me having rented this film. I'm a really big fan of Vince Vaughn, but a 5 minute scene of him posing is not exactly what I'd call 'entertaining.' The dialogue was very noticeably forced, and I can actually list porn films with a more intriguing plot than "Let's take Boiler Room, strip it of all interesting characters, remove any semblance of a plot, and film THAT." If you're interested in Julia Ormond love scenes, or have some kind of obsession with that odd kid from Empire Records, this film is for you, but otherwise I suggest consuming a large quantity of painkillers before watching this drivel.

I saw this in the indie channel & it kept my attention all the way, except for the phony love scenes (why does Hollywood always have to make sex look so artificial - doesn't anybody do it out there)? The acting is really terrific, especially Ed Harris & Vince Vaughan. Julia Ormond is OK in a part that looks written for Julianne Moore. The beginning is the best, the middle a bit too set-up, like imitation Mamet, the ending is hopeless. But definitely worth seeing for the acting.

Knowing the subject matter of this film - shilling fraudulent "whatever's" in a boiler room - I assumed it would follow closely in the footsteps of David Mamet's incomparable "Glengarry Glen Ross" (as was the case in the over-hyped and disappointing "Boiler Room"). Almost immediately, however, it becomes apparent that such is not the case. While "GGR" gave us stark images of the salemen's desperation in the context of their work, "Gig" delves completely into the life of Pendleton (Penny) Wise, played by Vince Vaughn. It is in showing the emptiness of his entire existence - and not just his work life - that one can see how susceptible he is to the machinations of the almost mythical Kelly Grant (Ed Harris), and his partner Caitlin Carlson (Julia Ormond). From his shabby apartment to his touching relationship with childhood friend Joel (Rory Cochrane) - who is, in spite of or because of his physical handicap, an even bigger loser than Wise and all of Wise's foundering sales cronies - you know he is destined for littler and worser (hey, if Shakespeare can use it, so can I) things. Wise is, as Grant puts it, "a big fish in a little pond." His ego won't let him believe it, but ultimately experience is a hard teacher. For those who just like Harris' style, you won't be disappointed. And Ormond does manage to sum up far more emotion than she did in the pathetic "Sabrina." But it is Vaughn, as stoic as Sheriff and as cynical as Trent Walker, who draws you into his character and keeps you from guessing too far ahead. The movie is worth watching just for the last five minutes or so, from the time Grant claims, "I'm not a closer" to the rolling credits. You'll think about this one for quite a while after viewing. And that's a good thing.

I once worked for an old line telemarketing company. I was the guy who trained sales people, not telemarketers who read scripts. I was also the guy who filled phone dialing consoles with scammers when it came time to bid contracts, scammers being the type of people I could not hire for anything other than contract bids. Scammers are good. If you take a deep breath, they can close a sale on that. So, movies like The Prime Gig and Glengarry Glen Ross are fascinating because, if you pay attention, you'll get to see things that most people never get to see, never mind believe.

The Prime Gig is well done and more than real enough for those who like stories about scams. The acting is good and there's an absence of melodrama. Everything is done straight up. Movies like this are difficult to end but here we are given a real life ending. The ending works. The movie works. I very much enjoyed it.