Main Cast: Vince Vaughn, Julia Ormond, Ed Harris, Rory Cochrane, Wallace Shawn
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Vince Vaughn stars in this drama as Pendleton "Penny" Wise, a gifted telemarketer who can sell almost anything over the phone. He's making a good living doing phone sales for Mick (Stephen Tobolowsky), until Mick's operation goes bust without enough funds to pay Penny or his co-workers Archie (George Wendt) and Gene (Wallace Shawn). Suddenly in dire financial straits, Penny is approached by Caitlin Carlson (Julia Ormond), who is recruiting telephone salesmen for Kelly Grant (Ed Harris). Grant is a legend in the telemarketing industry, but not always for positive reasons; one of his previous operations landed him in jail, and Penny isn't sure if Grant's latest scheme -- selling shares in a gold mine -- is on the level. Grant assures Penny that his new operation is legit, and even gives him a tour of the mining facilities; Penny signs on, though he still has his doubts. Soon Penny is outpacing his fellow sales people; he receives healthy bonus checks from Grant and has also become involved with Carlson; but he has a funny feeling that the good times can't last forever. The Prime Gig was the first feature film from successful theatrical director Gregory Mosher. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Sober, stylized, and subtly mournful, this superior examination of the underbelly of big business came out the same year as Boiler Room but failed to receive a proper theatrical release. That's too bad, for The Prime Gig has more on its mind than simply updating the corruption-and-greed trappings of Wall Street for a new generation of moviegoers. Avoiding both the grandstanding and the black-and-white morality of those other films, Gregory Mosher's directorial debut instead excavates the fluorescent-bathed banality and self-delusion that characterize the shadier corners of the financial industry. Mosher clearly knows his material: He helmed David Mamet's similarly themed Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway a quarter century earlier. Nevertheless, the film captures its own brand of scuzzy glamour thanks to sharp writing from newcomer William Wheeler and the beautiful photography of veteran John A. Alonzo. Vince Vaughn gives a quietly forceful lead performance, bolstered by the pugnacious intensity of Ed Harris and the crystalline mystery of Julia Ormond. Although the fine supporting cast includes playwright Wallace Shawn and TV vets Amber Benson and George Wendt, the focus is squarely on the three leads. The femme-fatale question mark hanging over Ormond and the sexual gamesmanship between Harris and Vaughn may come straight from film noir, but their migration to the world of strip-mall office space enlivens the material in both directions. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Jennifer Lane - Associate Producer, Billy Hopkins - Casting, William Wheeler - Co-producer, Shay Cunliffe - Costume Designer, Cara Giallanza - First Assistant Director, Gregory Mosher - Director, James Y. Kwei - Editor, David Robbins - Composer (Music Score), Richard Hoover - Production Designer, John A. Alonzo - Cinematographer, Cary Woods - Producer, Elliot Lewis Rosenblatt - Producer, Gina Mingacci - Producer, William Wheeler - Screenwriter
