The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest

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Movie Info

Hotshot marketing executive Andy Caspar (Adam Garcia) gives up his steady job to join a high-tech research and development center where he's teamed with three misfits, including socially-unacceptable Darrell (Jake Busey), to create a far-fetched and highly unlikely product -- a 99-dollar desktop computer. The company wants them to fail, but they succeed against all odds and come up with a PC that doesn't use a monitor or keyboard (it's holographic, and all of the memory is stored on an Internet server). A greedy competitor, Francis (Enrico Colantoni), sabotages their project and steals their idea as his own. Meanwhile, Andy's relationship with lovely neighbor Alisa (Rosario Dawson) hits the skids. Can Andy get the PC -- and the girl -- back?

Rating:

PG-13 (for language and sexual content)
Genre:

Comedy, Drama
Directed By:

Mick Jackson
Written By:

Jon Favreau, Gary Tieche
In Theaters:

Jun 28, 2002 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Dec 24, 2002
Runtime:

105 minutes
Studio:

20th Century Fox

Cast

Adam Garcia
as Andy Caspar

Jake Busey
as Darrell

Ethan Suplee
as Tiny

Anjul Nigam
as Salman

Rosario Dawson
as Alisa

Enrico Colantoni
as Francis Benoit

Gregory Jbara
as Hank

Dan Butler
as Lloyd

Linda Hart
as Mrs. B

Shiva Rose McDermott
as Terri

Chandra West
as Robin

Robert Patrick Benedict
as Willy

Heather Paige Kent
as Claudia Gross

Stoney Westmoreland
as Link

John M. Rothman
as Ben

Andy Berman
as Old Man

Reggie Lee
as Suit

Brent Hinkley
as Security Guard

Dagney Kerr
as Janie

Jerrod Cornish
as Busboy

Amy Van Horne
as Money Honey

Paul McKinney
as Griff

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Critic Reviews for The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest

All Critics (9) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (1) | Rotten (8)

It appears to have been modeled on the worst revenge-of-the-nerds clichés the filmmakers could dredge up.

Jul 11, 2002 | Rating: F

Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic
The movie, directed by Mick Jackson, leaves no cliche unturned, from the predictable plot to the characters straight out of central casting.

Jul 10, 2002 | Rating: 1/4

V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic
Click to read review

Jan 12, 2004 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…

Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
It's also curious to note that this film, like the similarly ill-timed Antitrust, is easily as bad at a fraction the budget.

Feb 26, 2003 | Rating: 0/4 | Full Review…

Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
No way I can believe this load of junk.

Jan 13, 2003 | Rating: D | Full Review…

Edward Havens
FilmJerk.com
The movie's thesis -- elegant technology for the masses -- is surprisingly refreshing.

Jul 10, 2002

Gregory Weinkauf
New Times