SHOOTING STARS EXTRA: On the set with ‘Middle Men’

  It’s a Hard Rock life no more for “Middle Men” — the independent production wrapped its four-day Las Vegas visit early Thursday. (Very early — about 3 a.m.)
  The movie focuses on the heady early days of adult entertainment on the Internet, with Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht as the adult entertainment entrepreneurs and Luke Wilson as a straight-arrow businessman who helps guide their enterprise into the online era.
  After four days (and nights) in Glitter City, the production headed to Southern California for a final day of shooting.
  But James Caan, pictured at right, who plays shady lawyer Jerry Haggerty, bade the “Middle Man” cast and crew a fond farewell Tuesday following one last scene depicting some hearty late-’90s partying in a Hard Rock penthouse suite.
  Detritus from the make-believe bash — fast food wrappers, Silly String clinging to cocktail glasses and walls, X-rated paraphernalia in the hot tub — is strewn about the suite, awaiting the next take, as Caan discusses his scene with writer-director George Gallo, “Maybe if you’re here and I walk?” Caan suggests. “Whaddya think?”
  Gallo thinks the view from the “A” camera “looks kind of boring for some reason” and instructs crew members to add visual interest in the background.
  Gallo’s actress wife Julie, meanwhile, walks down the hall into the suite, costumed in a little version of a little black dress. It’s the perfect attire for the scene, which depicts a late-’90s cocaine-and-party-girls soirée.
  Caan’s costume includes a jaunty porkpie-style hat and a goofy shirt with a pattern so loud he needs to wear sunglasses. (Are those actually flowers emblazoned on the fabric? It’s a bit tough to tell, considering the murky, red-tinged lighting on the penthouse set — and considering I’m watching the action on a video monitor in an adjacent room.)
  Plugged into producer Chris Mallick’s headset, I can even hear the lines Caan’s spouting as he leads the ladies to a table where lines of cocaine are supposedly spread.
  “There’s enough in here to get the entire Israeli army high,” he quips, instructing his comely co-stars to “just make believe you’re on a highway” while bending over to partake. “We only have one straw? One billion dollars’ worth of blow and one straw?”
  Another camera angle, another take, and Caan’s still on a roll.
  “OK, let’s play ‘Hide the Donkey’ or something,” he says as he escorts the party guests out of camera range to bursts of laughter.
  A moment later, an announcement echoes through the suite — “Mr. James Caan: That’s a wrap!” — followed by a round of applause for the veteran actor, who’s just chalked up another made-in-Vegas project to go along with the likes of “The Gambler,” “Honeymoon in Vegas” and NBC’s “Las Vegas.”
  Watch for “Middle Men” in theaters sometime next year. Director Gallo will be watching too — as soon as he finds out I write movie reviews as well as movie-related columns, he opens his arms wide, accompanying the expansive gesture with a hearty “Give me a hug!”
  Let’s hope I feel as warm and friendly about “Middle Men” when I get the chance to see the finished product sometime in '09.