Boiler Room

Released 2000
Stars Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Ben Affleck, Jamie Kennedy, Scott Caan, Ron Rifkin, Nicky Katt, Nia Long, Taylor Nichols, Tom Everett Scott
Directed by Ben Younger

These days, few things are hotter than the stock market, and everyone who isn't making a killing on Wall Street is feeling very left out. Of course, for every millionaire secretary who struck it rich by buying low and selling high, there are stories of men and women with the opposite fate - but, in the midst of an economic boom, we never hear about them. Likewise, for every honest stock broker who works 18 hour days to boost his clients' portfolios and inflate his own commissions, there are those who toil in so-called "boiler rooms", where the workload is no lighter, but where few (if any) buyers come out ahead.

The lure of quick money is what attracts Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) to the boiler room of J.T. Marlin, a "chop shop" brokerage firm located on Long Island, not on Wall Street. For all of Seth's life, he has wanted only two things: to become a millionaire and to earn his father's respect. In his quest to attain the former, however, he has endangered his chances for the latter. A 19-year old college drop out, Seth is running a small-time illegal casino out of his apartment - a business that his dad (Ron Rifkin), a [federal] judge, disapproves of. So, in an attempt to go legit, Seth joins J.T. Marlin as a trainee. But, even as he's on the fast track to wealth and success, he suspects that everything may not be on the up-and-up, and his conscience begins to prick him when he realizes he is cheating hard-working family men out of their life's savings just to earn himself a few thousand dollars in commissions.

Summary by James Berardinelli

This movie had its good points and bad points, but I'd like to know why the hardcore rap soundtrack? I knew it was a bad sign when notorious b.i.g. was quoted (I never thought I would watch a film that quoted notorious b.i.g.). This led to a comparison of stockbrokers slinging phony stock to boyz in the hood slingin' crack, but there's no way that comparison justified subjecting the viewer to 2 hours of rap crap. All I can say is I haven't used the mute button this much since britney spears did her Pepsi commercial... -- Bill Alward, May 7, 2001