Vince Vaughn Movie:

Editorial Review:
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

The Prime Gig [Region 2] Reviews:
Poor man's Glen Garry Glenn Ross
2008-11-15 - A passable conman flick. Vince Vaughn plays telemarketing scammer Pendelton "Penny" Wise who sells phony vacations to unsuspecting callers. The firm he works for is about to go under. He takes care of his crippled friend, Joel (Rory Cochrane). When the firm goes out of business, Vaughn hooks up with infamous conman Kelly Grant (Ed Harris) and his gal pal Caitlin (Julia Ormond).

The film starts out with colorful, interesting characters played by Stephen Tobolowsky, George Wendt, Wallace Shawn, and Kathy Baker, but it jettisons them completely once Vaughn's Penny goes to work for Harris' Kelly Grant.

The performances by Vaughn, Cochrane, Harris, and Ormond are topnotch but the screenplay is pretty lackluster. First, the relationship between Penny and his childhood friend, Joel, is poorly developed. Why is Joel on crutches? Was he injured in an accident or is he handicapped? Why is Penny so devoted to his friend, who, quite frankly, is an immature loser and freeloader? Halfway through the film, Joel just seems to disappear. This character could have been completely cut out of the film, and it would not have made much of a difference. I give Cochrane credit for giving such an interesting performance despite the fact that his role is so woefully underwritten.

Also, it's pretty obvious that Kelly and Caitlin are up to no good and should not be trusted, and yet, Penny works for them anyway. He seems smarter than that. I thought this stretched the credibility of the film.

I also felt let down by the ending. It seemed too ambiguous. It left loose ends.

I would recommend this for rental. You would be better off buying a much better film about conmen, Glen Garry Glenn Ross.

Earns the rite to find itself in Walmart's bargain film bin.
2008-04-22 - I almost cared about this movie. Almost. I mean, you can't go wrong with Vince Vaughn and Ed Harris, right?

Wrong.

The Prime Gig offers slices of entertainment that keep you modestly plugged into the movie, but ultimately, those slices are not enough to suffice. Characters come and go without us caring, and the main characters look as bored as we do. Vaughn plays a conman who goes to work for a master con-artist and ultimately meets his match. There's some attempts to make us care along the way, and some dialogue that tries to assert itself, but at the end of the day, we still don't care and strike 'The Prime Gig' from the first cut at the "Could Have Been a Cool Movie" tryouts.

This Con's on You
2007-05-22 - 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.