At the beginning of Middle Men, we see Jack Harris (Luke Wilson), a Houston businessman, stuffing millions of dollars into a duffel bag and driving out to save his family from angry Russian mobsters. In an apologetic voice-over, he explains. A few years ago, he became involved in the internet pornography business. On paper, his involvement was only that of a “middle man,” selling a revolutionary credit card billing program to pornographic websites. But he is, in fact, the brains behind an unbelievably lucrative operation, the kingpin of a sordid online empire. Starting out as a faithful family man, just trying to make a buck for his children and get out, he becomes indebted to Russian mobsters, accessory to murder, boyfriend to an XXX actress, and even an aide to terrorists. It’s a long story—too long, it turns out, for this snappy film.

All these troubles are visited upon Jack because he helped “figure out a better way for guys to jack off.” This is a crude premise and a hard concept to turn into a meaningful or elegant film. Middle Men avoids this problem by avoiding the smut. Even though the movie is content to advertise itself as a titillating Cinemax flick, it doesn’t get too raunchy. To its credit, it also doesn’t repulse.

Jack enters the world of pornography on a recommendation from his sleazy lawyer friend (James Caan), and though he is reluctant, he soon sees that there’s money to be made. Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht are Wayne and Buck, two high-IQ buffoons who, looking for an easier way to access porn, decide to take matters into their own hands and invent adult entertainment for the internet. Jack soon takes over their affairs, but for a while, director Gallo lets the duo have their own screen time. Cracked-out and reckless, they steal every scene they’re in. They’re sublimely foul, and as a result, they feel more honest than Middle Men’s good guys.

Gallo goes out of his way to make Jack Harris an un-sexualized good guy who finds himself in a bad situation. The film’s focus is his downward moral spiral. As this crumbling man, Wilson is unenergetic. He gets the job done, but with his eyes half closed. Unlike his first movie role, Bottle Rocket, in which Wilson played a lively turn as a lazy man, here, he is a lazy portrayal of a dynamic man. You never buy that he’s the relentless businessman who can handle any situation and balance two lives. That the film still manages to be a fun and compelling little movie is a testament to its sharp script. It moves at a brisk pace, and its situational suspense is spot-on.

Director Gallo understands that there’s a fine line between exploring eroticism and becoming something erotic. Boogie Nights avoided this by undercutting the action with its characters’ humanity. This film’s approach seems indebted to Scorsese. As in Goodfellas, which also features heavy voiceover narration, a relentless rock soundtrack, and a morally ambiguous central character, it is a sprawling account of a dirty underworld. Unlike Goodfellas, however, which memorably opens with Joe Pesci’s character stabbing a man to death over a minor insult, Middle Men is afraid of its own subject, never getting its hands too dirty in the messy business. Rather, the film is content relying heavily on the moral journey of a lukewarm protagonist who — as we can all see — is bound to change. Unsurprisingly, the film ends on a preachy note.