Boiler Room Buy Boiler Room from my web shop

(- 2000 -)

Original Title Boiler Room Director Ben Younger Genre Thriller, Drama, Crime Released -- MPAA Rating Rated R for strong language and some drug content. Rated 6.9

Plot Summary

Where would you turn? How far would you go? How hard will you fall?

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Actors / Character

Giovanni Ribisi as Seth Davis , Vin Diesel as Chris Varick , Nia Long as Abbie Halpert , Nicky Katt as Greg Weinstein , Scott Caan as Richie O'Flaherty , Ron Rifkin as Judge Marty Davis , Jamie Kennedy as Adam , Taylor Nichols as Harry Reynard , Bill Sage as Agent David Drew , Tom Everett Scott as Michael Brantley , Ben Affleck as Jim Young , John Griesemer as Concierge , David Younger as Marc , Russel Harper as Kid , Mark Webber as Kid

IMDB User Comments

Although it is almost entirely dialogue driven, Boiler Room is an excellent thriller about highly illegal get-rich-quick schemes. Giovanni Ribisi stars as a rich and very respected man's son who has dropped out of school in favor of running a small but very profitable casino in his basement. He runs into some friends who tell him about a job as a stockbroker, where he could really start to make big money. His portrayal of an inexperienced but eager young broker is made even better by his odd and extremely pale appearance, especially when he really begins to suspect something fraudulent in the firm that he is working for. There are numerous messages in the film, one of the most prevalent of which comes from the subplot involving Seth's (Ribisi) family, and particularly his father, Marty. He and Marty have a terrible relationship, probably stemming from Marty's history of emotional absence. Are you watching, all you fathers out there? Slap your kid across the face if he breaks his leg when he's young, and you may end up with the FBI after you when he grows up. As the old saying goes, bad parents have bad kids. (spoilers) However, the thing that Boiler Room tries to say is that this saying is not written in stone. Seth did not have an easy life, and he got into a lot of trouble, but in the end he looked at what was going on and he really tried to do the right thing, as Spike Lee would say. Sure, he rolled over on all of his stockbroker buddies, but these were the bad guys, and they were the ones who got him into the whole troublesome deal in the first place. This movie is not about making friends, it's about getting out of something that you know is wrong, especially if you know that what you are doing is really hurting people and damaging their lives for your own gain. This, by the way, is the other significant thing that this movie seems to be trying to say. With many things in life, especially if they entail immediate and tremendous financial gain, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The acting was also excellent from everyone involved. Giovanni Ribisi delivered a great performance (which only faltered a little bit in the scene where he begs his father for help in his office). Ben Affleck was startlingly convincing as the big boss at the fraudulent firm, and something should be said of the fact that while coming off as amazingly intimidating, he managed to be a bit amusing at the same time (`I have a ridiculous house…people who say money can't buy happiness don't have any…look at my smile. Ear to ear, baby.'). Way to go, Ben. Vin Diesel comes from an excellent although indistinguishable role as the voice of the Iron Giant, to one of the senior brokers at the firm in Boiler Room, in his last role before his hideous starring performance in the ridiculous Pitch Black. He was doing so well, too. Boiler Room is a very well made film. It is very talky, but it is not boring, and despite many hints that it is about to happen, the film never relies on gratuitous nudity to keep the audience's attention. It has a good story that is combined with an excellent cast and good direction to provide a surprisingly good thriller for unsuspecting audiences.

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