The Prime Gig

Starring:Vince Vaughn, Julia Ormond, Ed Harris, Rory Cochrane, Wallace Shawn, Stephen Tobolowsky, George Wendt, Jeanetta Arnette, Shishir Kurup, Harper Roisman, J.J. Johnston, Tom Wright, Romany Malco, Brian George, Christina Cabot, Amber Benson, Marjorie Lovett, Randy Sklar, Jason Sklar, Pat Healy
Director: Gregory Mosher
Studio: New Line Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Vince Vaughn stars in this story of high-pressure boiler room telemarketing scams. Vaughn plays Pendelton "Penny" Wise (get it?), a small-time operator who's looking for a bigger score. He takes a "prime gig" with Kelly Grant (Ed Harris), a high-stakes player with a shady gold mine to sell. Prime Gig sets up an unusual tension: you want to root for Penny even though you know he may be bilking people out of their life savings and is most definitely a sleazebag. Harris does well, making what could have been a typical Gordon Gekko knockoff character a little more internalized and interesting, and Julia Ormond does a fine job of fleshing out a character who very well may have been named "Romantic Interest." Vaughn uses his onscreen persona well here--he deftly maintains the hero-scumball balance, never quite letting go of either. Prime Gig is not a perfectly realized movie, but a compelling watch nonetheless. --Ali Davis

Description

Featuring great performances by an all-star cast, The Prime Gig is a moody and suspenseful thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. With greed, sex and betrayal at its core, this story about the scam of a lifetime exposes the evil that people and money can do.

Customer Reviews:

This Con's on You.......2007-05-23

There are certainly worse ways to spend 93 minutes -- just check out your local multiplex. Shellgames are never boring, and the ensemble cast is great (as they nearly always tend to be, in con movies). But, as others have pointed out, this one has more holes in it than a shower head. Shares in a gold mine? Pur-lease! Where is any telemarketer supposed to find marks dumb enough to buy those? Why would any telemarketer worth his salt waste his time trying? And, given that the Vince Vaughan character makes it quite clear he's only marrying the girl to help her get a green card (and therefore presumably wouldn't have dreamed of putting his money in a joint account and giving her sole signature over it), what bank would be inept enough to let her clean out his account just because she could show she was his wife?

An adrenaline packed, emotionally charged story about sales in USA.......2007-02-02

THE PRIME GIG, showcasing the acting talent of veteran
actors Vince Vaughn, the lovely Julia Ormond, and the
charismatic, head honcho Ed Harris, is more than just a
professionally made movie. It's an adrenaline packed,
emotionally charged story that carries viewers, on a
unique experience or rollercoaster over more than 90 mins.

Vaughn reprises, in part, an aspect of his humanity,
similar to to one seen inthe other movie LOCUST, (in which
he interacted with a disabled character called FLYBOY ).
He thereby demonstrates his psychological need to come to
the assistance of his disabled friend who, as said, has
difficulty suceeding in life and supporting himself,as a
brother's keeper. This clearly lends credibility to his
role, by making Penny multi-dimensional, not only a
workoholic salesman.

Viewers are treated to a perfect synchronicity between
real situations and the soundtrack, not unlike was the
case elsewhere in BoilerRoom, (that also had a great
soundtrack accompanying the story.) This clearly opens up
the sheer humanity of the sales persons, who must focus on
reaping their commissions surrounding a gold mining stock
promotion in a boiler room in an undisclosed secret
location, to regulatory authorities. This contrasts, in
other words, with the stereotype of sales as a job, often
seen as dehumanizing to those who participate in it, from
the pressure in meeting the sales numbers, on time, and in
full.

Regarding the selling aspect, PRIME GIG is actually pretty
realistic, showing there's more than one way to skin a
cat, meaning, different sales people approach sales
prospects with different techniques, although they share a
common objective, "to kill, or fill" the sales propspect.
We see a couple of CD's containing "leads", headsets,
dialers, a high pressure environment, a sales board,
competition between reps for the most number of sales,
commission bonuses, euphoria, depression, the illusion of
reps chasing a rainbow, in the job they accepted, as did
the prospects by accepting some sales for some products,
that even the salespeople didn't know was a con.

The movie has a dramatic, quick ending, bringing to light
another scourge of modern society, the mortgage fraud.

Clearly, viewers won't be able to say enough about the
acting skills of Vaughn, Ed Harris, and Ormond as their
intensity on screen, is simply unbeatable.

A Pale Imitation Of Meaner And Better Films--"Prime Gig" Comes Up A Bit Toothless.......2006-11-19

In truth, I didn't expect much from "Prime Gig"--and that lowered expectation probably served my viewing experience well. For overall, I did end up enjoying this film in a mild way. The beginning of the film is set within the confines of a failing telemarketing firm with a staff of sad sacks played by great character actors like Wallace Shawn, George Wendt, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Jeanetta Arnette. This was probably my favorite bit of the film and I thought it captured the desperation and shadiness incumbent in the typical telemarketing operation.

The opening establishes Penny, played by Vince Vaughn, as the alpha dog seller and self proclaimed "Norma Rae" of the office. After an all too brief interlude in this intriguing environment, however, Penny is recruited by a mysterious new operation. Led by Julia Ormond and Ed Harris, this new job is a high stakes, high dollar market for selling shares of a gold mine. We quickly move into familiar territory as we meet the ruthless sales staff and are introduced to high pressure telemarketing. Covered many times before, "Prime Gig" lacks the poetry and dynamics of "Glengarry Glen Ross" and the glitz and energy of "Boiler Room." It's not badly done, it's just a paler imitation of more noteworthy movies.

Ultimately, as in movies of this type, there are no heroes. Everyone is pretty much a scumbag looking to make it rich. This film is a bit disingenuous, though, it wants to have it both ways. We're meant to care about Penny too--hey, he's basically a good guy because he takes care of a handicapped friend. Well, that notion didn't particularly work for me. The movie moves toward the inevitable, predictable and still somewhat unconvincing ending. Once again, I think the movie is asking us to feel something for these somewhat reprehensible characters and again I didn't.

I'd first recommend either of the similar (but better) movies mentioned above, but "Prime Gig" does feature some good performances. If this milieu interests you, you'll likely enjoy much of this film. Really about 3 1/2 stars--I'm rounding down "Prime Gig" for not truly embracing its sleaziness. KGHarris, 11/06.

Disturbing.......2006-11-02

I'm not sure if anyone got what I think is the real underlying message here. That is, nice guys finish last. Althought Vince Vaughn's character, Penny, chose a job that involved the sleazy business of tele-marketing, he was a nice guy who generally liked and trusted people, at least in person. He had an unfailing yet somewhat naive ethic that assumed people deserved to be treated fairly, and should be defended when confronted by injustice. The movie suggests that these qualities, although noble, are ultimately the cause of the main character's undoing.

Penny's likability was a magnet for desperate people (i.e. 1) his gutless co-workers: Penny was the one on whom they depended to stand up against bully employers who either didn't pay or was threatening blackmail; 2) his self-pitying brother: who used his handicap to prey on his good will, freeloading when he was more than capable of getting a job and taking care of himself; and of course, 3) Julia Ormond's character, who manipulated him into an arranged marriage.) Finally, at the end, he weighed his life's actions against their consequences, and decided to do what he thought was right for him.

Although the film failed to explain clearly why a person with such compassion and a strong sense of right and wrong would decide to work in such a sleazy environment in the first place, it nevertheless presented a disturbing essay on how good people can be taken advantage of.

Interesting, but poor ending.......2006-04-18

The hook in these grifter/con man movies is to see which of the con men gets conned at the end, and how. All movies in this genre seem to follow that same plot structure. This movie does too, but it suffers by comparison with two other recent movies in the genre, "Matchstick Men" and "Confidence."

What made those movies better, and this one worse, is that in those movies we can totally believe the ending, whereas here we can't. Although the set up is believable, the mechanics of the final rip-off do not seem possible. If they had spent just a bit more time and effort making us believe in the scenario whereby the con man finally gets conned himself, the movie would have been better. Instead, it ends with a whimper, not a bang.

Average customer rating:

This Con's on You
An adrenaline packed, emotionally charged story about sales in USA
A Pale Imitation Of Meaner And Better Films--"Prime Gig" Comes Up A Bit Toothless
Disturbing
Interesting, but poor ending

The Prime Gig
Starring: Vince Vaughn , Julia Ormond , Ed Harris , Rory Cochrane , and Wallace Shawn
Director: Gregory Mosher
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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