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Prime Gig, The
New Line // R // February 12, 2002
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I originally saw posters and ads for "The Prime Gig" at the local arthouse theater in the middle of last year. With slick posters and a great cast that included Ed Harris, Vince Vaughn and Julia Ormond, it was a film that I thought I'd look out for. Unfortunately, the film never arrived locally and those who got to see the picture were largely those who saw it at film festivals. Personally, I'd forgotten about the film until one recent morning, when I turned on the Independent Film Channel at 5:30 in the morning and found that "The Prime Gig" was playing. I liked what I saw - enough that I was quite suprised that the film never got a further theatrical release.
The film stars Vince Vaughn as Penny Wise, an ace telemarketer selling vacations out of a small room with a few other team members working the phones. While there's obviously a catch to anything like this, there are some people who listen and Penny is clearly the best of the bunch at getting their attention. As the film opens though, we find out that the room is about to fold up and the phone operators are out of a job.
Penny isn't unemployed for long, though - soon, he's recruited for a "Prime Gig", working the phones for Kelly Grant, who previously spent some time in jail but is widely known for his selling skills. While everything seems to be going well after a slow start, his affair with Grant's girlfriend (Ormond) could cause things to go South.
"The Prime Gig" will likely be compared to "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Boiler Room". While the film isn't as good as the first, it is generally as strong as the second. Although not as intense as either, the film does boast very good performances (especially from Vaughn, Harris and several supporting cast members) and excellent writing. There's a few places where this is a bit slow, but overall, I liked it. Good characters, interesting situations and strong writing - it's a film that deserved a wider audience.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Prime Gig" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full-frame by New Line. Both editions are on the same side of the disc and are accessible from the menu. The film uses the widescreen frame terrifically - there are several instances throughout the movie of superb compositions. While this is a very good transfer from New Line, it falls a bit short of expectations. Sharpness and detail are consistently solid - except for a scene or two, the picture remains crisp and well-defined.
Where the presentation runs into some minor trouble is not with the print, as there are no print flaws seen. The picture even remained free of slight specks or other similar forms of wear. The main problem is a fair amount of edge enhancement, which is visible in several scenes. One or two trace instances of pixelation appeared, but were hardly noticable.
SOUND: "The Prime Gig" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Clearly a dialogue-driven feature, the majority of the audio clearly stays within the front speakers. Surrounds are hardly used, with the exception of some slight reinforcement of the score. Audio quality was pleasant enough, as dialogue came through crisply and naturally.
MENUS: Menus are nicely animated, with film-themed images.
EXTRAS: Unfortunately, this title offers the least amount of supplements I think I've ever seen on a New Line title. The one "supplement" isn't too prime: all we get are DVD credits.
Final Thoughts: "The Prime Gig" is a solid drama, with a great lead performance and solid writing. While it didn't get a chance in theaters, hopefully it will find an audience on video. While the DVD does present the film with good audio/video, the nearly complete lack of supplements makes the $24.95 price a bit much. Still, it's a title definitely worth checking out as a rental.
I originally saw posters and ads for "The Prime Gig" at the local arthouse theater in the middle of last year. With slick posters and a great cast that included Ed Harris, Vince Vaughn and Julia Ormond, it was a film that I thought I'd look out for. Unfortunately, the film never arrived locally and those who got to see the picture were largely those who saw it at film festivals. Personally, I'd forgotten about the film until one recent morning, when I turned on the Independent Film Channel at 5:30 in the morning and found that "The Prime Gig" was playing. I liked what I saw - enough that I was quite suprised that the film never got a further theatrical release.
The film stars Vince Vaughn as Penny Wise, an ace telemarketer selling vacations out of a small room with a few other team members working the phones. While there's obviously a catch to anything like this, there are some people who listen and Penny is clearly the best of the bunch at getting their attention. As the film opens though, we find out that the room is about to fold up and the phone operators are out of a job.
Penny isn't unemployed for long, though - soon, he's recruited for a "Prime Gig", working the phones for Kelly Grant, who previously spent some time in jail but is widely known for his selling skills. While everything seems to be going well after a slow start, his affair with Grant's girlfriend (Ormond) could cause things to go South.
"The Prime Gig" will likely be compared to "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Boiler Room". While the film isn't as good as the first, it is generally as strong as the second. Although not as intense as either, the film does boast very good performances (especially from Vaughn, Harris and several supporting cast members) and excellent writing. There's a few places where this is a bit slow, but overall, I liked it. Good characters, interesting situations and strong writing - it's a film that deserved a wider audience.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Prime Gig" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full-frame by New Line. Both editions are on the same side of the disc and are accessible from the menu. The film uses the widescreen frame terrifically - there are several instances throughout the movie of superb compositions. While this is a very good transfer from New Line, it falls a bit short of expectations. Sharpness and detail are consistently solid - except for a scene or two, the picture remains crisp and well-defined.
Where the presentation runs into some minor trouble is not with the print, as there are no print flaws seen. The picture even remained free of slight specks or other similar forms of wear. The main problem is a fair amount of edge enhancement, which is visible in several scenes. One or two trace instances of pixelation appeared, but were hardly noticable.
SOUND: "The Prime Gig" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Clearly a dialogue-driven feature, the majority of the audio clearly stays within the front speakers. Surrounds are hardly used, with the exception of some slight reinforcement of the score. Audio quality was pleasant enough, as dialogue came through crisply and naturally.
MENUS: Menus are nicely animated, with film-themed images.
EXTRAS: Unfortunately, this title offers the least amount of supplements I think I've ever seen on a New Line title. The one "supplement" isn't too prime: all we get are DVD credits.
Final Thoughts: "The Prime Gig" is a solid drama, with a great lead performance and solid writing. While it didn't get a chance in theaters, hopefully it will find an audience on video. While the DVD does present the film with good audio/video, the nearly complete lack of supplements makes the $24.95 price a bit much. Still, it's a title definitely worth checking out as a rental.
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