Boiler Room [Region 2] | ![Boiler Room [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KSCHQKFHL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Ben Younger
Actors: Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Rating:  146 reviews
Sales Rank: 267471
Format: Anamorphic, Full Screen, Ntsc
Languages: French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 3512391404208
ASIN: B00005R6UF
Theatrical Release Date: February 18, 2000
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The intense soundtrack of Boiler Room is a fitting underscore for this movie, which pulses with the vigor of young, rich, amoral men wreaking havoc. This is not the antisocietal havoc of Fight Club, but the more deliberate mayhem that comes from greed run amok. The testosterone-junkie brokers of J.T. Marlin (the only female in the office is Abby, the receptionist and love interest, played by Nia Long) are out to make the sale, and whether that sale is legal or ethical doesn't matter. Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) is a 19-year-old college dropout who strives for approval from his father (Ron Rifkin), a judge who is horrified that his son operates a 24-hour illicit casino. When an old friend visits the casino with a fellow broker, Davis is impressed by their wads of money and yellow Ferrari, and decides to join the firm. In no time he's making sales and settling into the groove of the office and all the after-hours perks, but the dream fades when Davis discovers the scam that is making all of the brokers wealthy beyond their dreams. Borrowing heavily from Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross, Boiler Room is at its best when dealing with matters of money, and powerful scenes of Davis learning to be a "closer" showcase the significant talent of Ribisi, Nicky Katt, and Vin Diesel. The movie flounders when developing the relationship between Davis and his father, becoming sentimental and trite. However, as a fable of modern society and a nostalgic vehicle about the days of yuppies past, Boiler Room is right on the money. --Jenny Brown
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| Customer Reviews: Read 141 more reviews...
 Not what I thought it would be. February 26, 2009
M. Barnstead (Sealy Texas)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was really disappointed in this movie. I didn't think that Vin Diesel was in it enough to be called a "Vin Diesel" movie.
And best of all kids, I am liquid February 26, 2009
C. CRADDOCK (Bakersfield)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Boiler Room owes a tremendous debt to Wall Sreet and Glengarry Glen Ross. It doesn't try to hide it--it's shameless. Jim Young (Ben Affleck) even quotes directly from the Alec Baldwin sales meeting: "ABC = Always Be Closing." There is even a scene where the young stockbrokers get together and watch Wall Street, quoting the dialogue verbatim, like some kind of twisted Rocky Horror Picture Show cult. But where the average person sees both movies as a cautionary tale about greed and the foolishness of trusting a salesperson to tell the truth, the boys of the Boiler Room take it as gospel. They are all Gordon Gecko wannabes, and they will Always Be Closing.
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Jim Young: You Want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari, 355 Cabriolet, What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all kids, I am liquid.
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Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) is smart but he drops out of college. He runs a successful off campus casino, but his father (Ron Rifkin), a federal judge, is none too pleased. Seth figures that the odds of him getting pinched are pretty high, so he takes a client's suggestion and applies at a stockbroker's for a position as an intern. He learns quick, and is soon a rising star of the firm, J.T. Marlon.
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Man on phone: Take me off your list.
Seth Davis: Fine, fine. I'm gonna take you off my list of successful people today.
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Seeing a lot more potential in him than the rest of the yahoos, Chris (Vin Deisel) and Greg (Nicky Katt) show him the ropes. At least until Greg begins to get jealous of Seth's flirtations with the firm's secretary, Abby (Nia Long).
Soon Seth passes his Series 7, and he's on his way. The philosophy of his company is ruthless and macho. Feelings are frowned upon, and the only thing that matters is closing the sale.
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Jim Young: And there is no such thing as a no sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock or he sells you a reason he can't. Either way a sale is made, the only question is who is gonna close? You or him? Now be relentless, that's it, I'm done.
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Giovanni Ribisi gives an excellent performance, as he perfects his sales techniques, he is also figuring out just exactly what is going on, how they are making the money. Usually Giovanni is more of a supporting actor, a character actor, but here he is the lead, and he really carries it well. He is driven to make money, but deeper than that, he wants to win his father's approval, and sees money as the means to that end. Abby is also driven to make money, but she is supporting her sick mother, and sees no other way than turning a blind eye to the suspect and shady practices of J.T. Marlon. The interaction between the two is very well played.
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Seth Davis: What do you mean, you're gonna pass. Alan, the only people making money passing are NFL quarterbacks and I don't see a number on your back.
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Time for more lessons from motivational speaker, Jim Young:
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Jim Young: There's an important phrase that we use here, and think it's time that you all learned it. Act as if. You understand what that means?
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Seth understands only too well the lessons of Jim Young. Throughout Boiler Room very good use is made of a rap soundtrack that really underscores Seth's attitude well. As he learns just how crooked the firm he works for is, and sees the destruction that they leave in their wake, he yearns for his old casino, where he at least provided a service that his customers wanted. He compares his current job to a crack dealer, and wonders, which is worse?
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Seth Davis: The Notorious BIG said it best: "Either you're slingin' crack-rock, or you've got a wicked jump-shot." Nobody wants to work for it anymore. There's no honor in taking that after school job at Mickey Dee's, honor's in the dollar, kid. So I went the white boy way of slinging crack-rock: I became a stock broker.
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Boiler Room takes what could be very boring--selling stocks over the phone--and makes a very exciting movie out of it. It feeds you enough information so you understand what is at stake, but it doesn't bog down with too much exposition. It paints a vivid picture of a world that is both fascinating and repellent. Amid all the moral ambiguity and decadence there are genuine human feelings, and you feel connected with what the characters are going through, especially with Giovanni Ribisi as Seth and Nia Long as Abby. It is a perfect blend of testosterone, finance, and emotions.
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Seth Davis: I had a very strong work ethic. The problem was my ethics in work.
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He's Just Not That Into You [Theatrical Release](2009) .... Ben Affleck was Neil
... aka Er steht einfach nicht auf Dich! (Germany)
Masked and Anonymous (2003) .... Giovanni Ribisi was Soldier
Stigmata (1999) .... Nia Long was Donna Chadway
Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition) (1998) .... Giovanni Ribisi was T-4 Medic Irwin Wade & Vin Diesel was Pvt. Adrian Caparzo
Lost Highway (1997) .... Giovanni Ribisi was Steve 'V'
Chasing Amy - Criterion Collection (1997) .... Ben Affleck was Holden McNeil
Dazed & Confused (Widescreen Flashback Edition) (1993) .... Nicky Katt was Clint Bruno
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) They take Alec Baldwin's sales speech as gospel, ABC = Always Be Closing
JFK - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1991) .... Ron Rifkin was Mr. Goldberg/Spiesel (credited on Director's Cut) *Kevin Bacon was in JFK
Wall Street (1987) The young stockbrokers of Boiler Room are Gordon Gecko wannabes
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Seth Davis: It's strange to think how that knock changed everything, everything, hey don't get me wrong here, I don't believe in fate, I believe in odds.
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3 stars out of 4 February 5, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Ann Arbor)
The Bottom Line:
Though I'm still not sure the scenes with Ron Rifkin as Ribisi's father really work, the rest of this film is a gripping look inside a shady stock firm that seems all the more relevant these days; with powerful performances by an almost entirely young cast, Boiler Room is an interesting and fast-moving thriller.
Wall Street fiascos revisited December 20, 2008
D. Roberts (Battle Creek, Michigan United States)
In the wake of the collapse of the housing market, the credit crunch, several hundred million dollars being funneled to Wall Street in the form of government bailouts and the latest mega Wall Street scam by Bernard Madoff, this is a sobering movie that deals with the arrogance of crooks who masquerade as stock brokers.
Giovanni Ribisi is most well known as a supporting actor in movies such as Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition) as well as TV shows like The X Files. In this film, he takes the leading role, which is somewhat remarkable in a movie that features the likes of Vin Diesel and Ben Affleck. Ribisi rises to the occasion, however, and is sympathetic as a brand new stockbroker who is trying to learn the ropes at a firm.
Problem is, this is the very type of firm that has helped lead the U.S. to its current economic recession. The brokers are crooks who would worship paragons of duplicity such as Mr. Madoff. In fact, for fun they sit around and recite the lines from Wall Street (20th Anniversary Edition) and think of Michael Douglas' character as someone they should look up to. Talk about missing the point of a movie!
There is a catharsis in this film in that the egocentric, arrogant thieves who think so highly of themselves eventually find out their free-ride is over with. With that in mind, I believe that this should be a standard movie for every fledgling stock broker to watch; perhaps it might plant a few seeds of morality in the amoral world of Wall Street.
Wall Street Lite - 3 1/2 Stars June 1, 2008
G. YEO (Singapore)
Right off - this is one of Giovanni Ribisi's best performances. It's compelling but we never really feel the heat of the Boiler Room. The Danger. The Action. Ben Affleck is extremely good but brief in this - one of his forgotten performances. Everything else about the movie has been said here. More sex, scandal and intrigue would've elevated this way above. EXTRAS: The "original ending" is actually a lot more artful and smarter than the one we get in the final cut. Overall, worth comparing to Wall Street? No. Worth watching? Yes.
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