First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest [2002]
Based on Po Bronson's novel, the computer comedy The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest is a Revenge of the Nerds for the 2000s. Andy (Coyote Ugly's Adam Garcia) is a Silicon Valley marketing executive who decides to chuck it all--the money, the superficial girlfriend, etc.--for the chance to work at high-tech think tank La Honda. Head genius Francis (Just Shoot Me's Enrico Colantoni) doesn't like the looks of the slick new guy and challenges him to come up with a $99 laptop. To his amazement, Andy and his ragtag band of socially inept misfits (Ethan Suplee, Jake Busey, and Anjul Nigam) actually succeed, but then Francis tries to take all the credit--and the profits. If the Jon Favreau-adapted story is largely implausible, it's entertaining nonetheless, and Men in Black II's Rosario Dawson is charming as the free-spirited artist who inspires Andy and the gang. --Kathleen C. Fennessy