Paul J. Nemecek At first glance, Seth Davis appears to be just another college dropout looking for a quick path to success. When we dig a bit deeper we discover that Seth is also the son of a federal judge, and that he desperately longs for his father's approval and affirmation. When we first meet Seth, he is running an illegal casino out of his apartment and making pretty good money at it. When he decides to go "legit", he pursues an invitation to become a broker at a "boiler room"-a volatile trading room specializing in high-pressure sales.When I saw the previews for Boiler Room I told my wife that it looked a bit like Wall Street meets Glengarry Glenn Ross. I didn't realize how right I was until I saw the film. To his credit, writer/director Ben Younger makes explicit references to both films. I guess it's not plagiarism if you cite your sources. While this film is clearly derivative, it has its own voice and manages to tell an important story in a compelling manner.Like Glengarry Glenn Ross, this is a story about hyper-competitive salesmen with too much testosterone for their own good. Like Wall Street, there is an underlying ethic of "greed is good". What separates this film from the others is its compassionate portrayal of the victims. When you realize the degree of hurt and pain created by greed and a raw lust for power, you can't help but hurt. Giovanni Ribisi is perfectly cast as Seth Davis, the corrupted innocent who longs for his father's approval. There are a number of great supporting performances too (Ben Affleck, Tom Everett Scott, Nia Long, Ron Rifkin), but what makes the film really work is the writing. The dialogue sizzles and the story is compelling, even when it hurts.Adam Smith believed that capitalism was an ideal economic system based on enlightened self-interest. This film gives us a gripping depiction of naked self-interest. There is no light here, only shadow-and what a nasty shadow it is. Even the victims of the con artists are, in part, done in by their own greed and striving for prosperity.One of the best things about the film is that it left me with questions that won't go away. Specifically, I wonder if the greed and naked self-interest depicted in The Boiler Room is an aberration of American capitalism, or the logic of American capitalism followed to its natural conclusion? Last week when several of us had dinner with a sociologist friend of mine, we were trying to decide if "responsible capitalism" was an oxymoron. This film might not answer the question for you, but it could leave you wondering.

felix-wyderka It is very refreshing seeing Ribisi finally playing a good guy. He delivers an outstanding performance and has a great chemistry with Vin Diesel. A movie similar to the movie classic "Wall Street" and yet different. We once again get taken into the world of stocks and brokers and it is done in such a lovely way that it is just a joy to watch. "Boiler Room" is another movie that shows the audience how dangerous the stock market can be for both, broker and customer. This movie, unlike other movie with a similar theme, also focus on the effect of the sales and stocks on the customers not only the brokers. It shows us how destructive just a single sale can be and how easily a simple hard working citizen can loose everything, including their family. In conclusion we can say that "Boiler Room" doesn't quiet hold up as good as "Wall Street" but it most certainly is a close second.

kingbk-2 Boiler Room isn't a terrific movie, but it's not a terrible one either. It's definitely entertaining, but at times feels too much like a derivative of other financial thriller films, in particular Wall Street, with some references to Glengarry Glen Ross thrown in for good measure. Because of this, it feels kind of like an pale unoriginal imitation, more than something truly original.The story centers around Seth Davis (Ribisi), a 21-year-old college dropout living in Queens. In place of school, he runs an illegal casino out of his apartment for college students. He makes a good living, but does so against the wishes of his family, in particular his strict, cold father Judge Marty Davis (Rifkin). His father doesn't want to speak to Seth until he makes a living in an honest way. One night, towards closing time, he's visited by an old friend and his colleague. They tell him about being a stockbroker and recruit Seth to join a group interview. Wanting to impress his father, he goes to the interview at J.T. Marlin. About an hour away from NYC in the suburbs, Seth is immediately attracted to the sports cars and luxury suits worn by the brokers. He gets in good with the firm, befriending some of the top brokers and going from relatively weak on the phone into a lying, swindling sales hot shot. Eventually, he realizes J.T. Marlin is nothing more than a pump and dump chop shop peddling worthless penny stocks in a bucket scheme where the customer loses money on the stock while the firm keeps the profit and the broker a $2 commission per share purchased. He also has change of conscience when he scams an innocent man out of his life savings. Seth fights to get out of the situation before everything falls apart.The movie indeed is entertaining and the story interesting, but I just can't help but compare it to Wall Street. Seth Davis is no Bud Fox. Sheen played the role of Fox with the right about of naive innocence and slimy salesmanship. Ribisi keeps the same stoic expression, never seeming to change from the beginning of the movie to the end. The other thing is they both center around father-son relationships and how the sons want to impress their fathers. In Wall Street, you sensed the bond that the two had, which could have been helped by Martin Sheen playing the father role, but in Boiler Room, there seems to be no bond and by 21, if a son doesn't get along with his father, it seems like he'd have no interest in making that connection. Towards the end they have a great scene together, but the relationship seemed awkward for most of the movie. While Wall Street focused on a legitimate brokerage house in NYC which employed Ivy League graduates, Boiler Room is out in the cheaper suburbs, hiring likely blue collared kids with no degree. Maybe that's part of the movie's message, but it's hard to go from Wall Street to the suburbs if you watched Wall Street previously. The story just doesn't have the same punch or the same twists and turns of Wall Street. Ben Affleck does his best imitation of Blake from Glengarry Glen Ross, but it pales to the real thing and again just comes off derivative of Alec Baldwin. Also, there is a lot of unbelievability and things that don't make sense that happen too much in this film.It's entertaining for sure, but I'd stick with Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross if you want cautionary tales of high risk/high reward investment careers.

blanche-2 "Boiler Room" from 2000 is a very good film featuring some young, up and coming talent including Ben Affleck, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Scott Caan, Jamie Kennedy, Will McCormack, and Christopher Fitzgerald. Ron Rifkin has a showy role as Ribisi's father.It's interesting that several compared this film to "Wall Street" and "Glengarry Glen Ross" - certainly the comparisons are valid - but someone mentioned a real-life comparison, to the Enron situation. The documentary I saw was "Enron The Smartest Guys in the Room" and I think that's an apt comparison as well.The plot concerns a young man, Seth Davis, who makes money running a backroom casino. His father is a federal judge and the two men are distanced from one another, his father making it clear that he doesn't approve.One night, a man comes into the casino and suggests a stockbroker job for Seth with a boutique company. Seth becomes a trainee there, and comes up against heavy competition and ruthless bosses and managers, one of whom is played by Ben Affleck and another played by Nicky Katt. He temporarily wins his father's approval as he learns how to "always be closing" with every phone call, and the art of the deal. There's just one problem - there's something a little odd about the place, and Seth can't put his finger on it. What he doesn't realize is that the business is under investigation, and the Feds have targeted someone close to Seth for information.Interesting film and very well acted. What's scary is, this type of thing worked with Enron so I wouldn't say it's unrealistic. Greed is greed, be it in stockbrokers, corporations, or stock owners.I felt like others, let down by the ending. I could have used another five minutes to wrap it up better.SPOILER HERE: STOP IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE ***Did anyone else think Seth's father set him up? Not out of anger or cruelty, but to get him out of the situation and help to bring this place down. I found it hard to believe that as a Federal judge he would go along with this IPO and say, on the phone, that he wanted to help Seth so he "wouldn't get caught" - and this is all recorded and played back to him when Seth is brought in. The Feds banked on Seth spilling his guts in order to save his father. One would think his father would believe it would go the other way and therefore wouldn't have agreed to it, but he must have seen how desperate this kid was for his love and gone along with the Feds. They were threatening to strip him of his position as a judge. Seth's father a couple of scenes earlier wanted nothing to do with Seth because it jeopardized his job.