Middle Men

In 2004, Jack Harris leaves home with a duffel bag full of millions to settle debts with Russian mobsters. He worries about the safety of his wife Diana and their children, fearing what might happen if he fails. The tense opening frames the film's central stakes.

A flashback shows Jack aiding a sick friend who operates a nightclub in Los Angeles. This moment introduces his willingness to jump into risky ventures and to leverage his connections in the entertainment scene. It sets the stage for later alliances.

Buck Dolby, a former NASA scientist, takes about 15 minutes to draft a program that lets people pay to view porn online. Wayne Beering and Buck pitch the idea to Nikita Sokoloff, who agrees to a 25% stake in exchange for filming his strippers. The partnership seeds the future middlemen business.

Within a month, Buck and Wayne’s site is hugely successful and they celebrate in Las Vegas. They start to neglect payments to Sokoloff, creating tension that foreshadows future conflicts. Jack, now running a successful LA nightclub, draws the attention of Haggerty, a crooked lawyer.

Jack meets Jerry Haggerty and pays him $200,000 to bow out, knowing Haggerty is under federal indictment. The deal secures Haggerty’s help to resolve their growing legal entanglements. This uneasy partnership foreshadows his later manipulation of other players.

Sokoloff’s nephew comes to collect $400,000 and threatens Jack’s family. One of Jack’s bodyguards knocks him out and he dies; the group dumps the body at sea and fabricates that the money was stolen. Skeptical, Sokoloff accepts a higher share, increasing his stake to 50%.

Jack pivots from porn to online billing, creating 24/7billing.com as the middleman for other providers. The business grows rapidly, reaching hundreds of millions in about a year. Jack becomes consumed by money, sex, and power, including a volatile affair with Audrey Dawns.

Haggerty schemes to take over the company by steering Wayne and Buck toward Denny Z, who runs multiple child pornography sites. The manipulation tightens the net of illegal activity surrounding the Middle Men venture. The stage is set for escalating conflicts.

Audrey’s live-stream porn site is monitored by an international terrorist network, drawing government attention. The FBI asks Jack and Audrey to help hunt terrorists, while Wayne and Buck fear Jack will turn them in for their prior crimes. The tension strains their loyalties and brings law enforcement into their orbit.

Wayne and Buck discuss killing Sokoloff’s nephew with Haggerty, who uses the confession to pressure Sokoloff. This manipulation motivates Sokoloff to press his own move against Jack. The cycle of fear and revenge deepens the conspiracies surrounding the business.

Sokoloff’s men kidnap Jack’s maid’s son, believed to be Jack’s child. Jack gathers several million dollars and heads to meet Sokoloff, a sequence shown at the film’s opening. The confrontation culminates in a coercive contract and shifting loyalties.

Jack signs a contract giving his partnership shares to Wayne, Buck, Sokoloff, and Haggerty, backdated to before Denny Z’s child-porn business. Sokoloff shoots Haggerty dead but lets Jack go, grateful for the money he has earned. The act cements the new balance of power among the players.

The FBI charges Sokoloff, Wayne, and Buck with providing billing services for child pornography, turning state’s evidence against Denny Z for a reduced sentence. Sokoloff is believed to have fled the country, possibly heading to Moscow. The network of crime begins to unravel as authorities close in.

Jack returns home with the maid’s son; Diane greets him back into the family, offering a quiet counterpoint to the violent world he’s navigated. The family appears safe for now as the film closes on a note of reconciliation amid the damage done.