Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

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.

Ed Harris, freshly out of the slams, hires a bunch of telemarketers to make cold calls and sell a gold mine. Julia Ormond, his girl friend, is his right-hand woman. Vince Vaughn is the most hard-headed and cynical of the hired salesmen. Harris tells Vaughn and the rest that this is not a scam. That he truly believes in this venture, that they will all make a lot of money and will do good while amassing their fortunes. As in much of life, these windy promises with their pellucid purity, turn out to be part of a mega-scam and everyone winds up sucking wind except Harris and Ormond. Vaughn winds up sadder -- and certainly broker -- but not necessarily wiser.This conspectus, I realize, makes the film sound like a poor man's independent production of "Glenngary Glenn Ross," and it is. It could have been written by David Mammon himself. I mean Mamet.Actually this is a good film, nicely done in every respect. The script especially is a winner through and through.Inquiring about a new job, an applicant asks, "Are there benefits?" "Yeah, you get to eat and pay the rent." A caller is being turned down by a potential customer and hollers into the phone, "**** you, you dried-up old bag. I hope the cancer kills you!" "GENE!", his boss shouts in alarm. "Okay, okay," Gene continues reasonably into the phone, "I was just kidding. But listen, suppose the cancer does spread and kill you, and you've never been to Hawaii. How's THAT going to make you feel?" The boss advises another recruit, "It's a bad idea to greet your customer by asking, 'Are you high?'" When Vaughn quizzes Harris about the job, he demands daily cash payments. "Okay," says Harris, "you got it, but instead of 20 percent it's 17 percent because it's a pain in the ass for book keeping." A less thoughtful and realistic script, sticking to the bare conventions, would not have added that final fillip.All the characters are surprisingly well fleshed out, and the direction is functional without being in any way splashy or full of self display.There is no Big Message behind the film, unless you want to get into something too chiliastic for human consumption, but it's well worth watching, amusing and instructive.

This is a great movie with a great cast however Vince Vaughn gives perhaps his best dramatic performance to date. Unlike Will Ferrel, Vaughn can do both comedy and drama. This is a great movie thats shows us the real sleazy and corrupt world of telemarketing. In fact if your a telemarketer watching this film , youll probably be mad since it exposed your corrupt jobs!! lolVaughn plays Penny Wise, a small but great telemarketer who knows how to con people into making sales for his cheap company.Eventually a bigger telemarketing scheme headed by the character of Ed Harris wants to use Penny's "skills" in this area to pull of a Million Dollar scam.Meanwhile Penny's friend is out of work and relies on him for support.Penny is caught in a corner, work with this rich white scoundrels to steal millions and sell his soul to the devil , so to speak, or do the right thing?This a great movie about moral dilemna and what you really do if you really had to put your money where your mouth and live up to your own idealogies.All the performances are great and the movie, doesn't really tell you what Penny's "final decision" will be until the 10 minutes he "goes along" with the scam and looks like he will do it with the rest of them.Highly recommended.

This film about a cocky down-and-outer is sharp and detailed in it's intention, while maintaining an oblique view of the circumstances surrounding the main plotline about a sales scam, which is the least interesting aspect of the scenario. An uncommonly perceptive film about working for a living and living on the edge.