Boiler Room

I'll sum this film up in 5 words, 'on par with fight club'.

This is a great film, every second of this film is worth 9/10. I'll start with the films flaws. Firstly, the main character is very weak, I'm not sure whether it's poor writing or bad acting but he just comes across as an idiot rather than the deep, flawed, entrepreneur that the film wanted to portray. Secondly, even in the year 2,000 floppy disks were an ageing technology, without giving much away there's a scene where an entire companies data is copied to a floppy disk. The film includes a lot of central characters and doesn't provide any back-story for any of them, this wouldn't be so much of a problem if the central character wasn't so weak but by the end of it you feel as though you haven't seen a single character develop or even begin to understood any of the characters but you have just seen a good film.

Praise: This film is amazing. The film really captures the desires of society and gives them a face. The characters really convey the shallow two facedness you come across every day where they're happy and pleasant until something happens that could even remotely damage their cash flow. Every person you've ever met that wanted to make a quick buck is in this film, the consumerism and lack of social conscience that constantly plagues society is so prevalent in this film. It also approaches the topic of share trading from a much more accessible angle, they don't put much effort into adding the right industry terms or showing scenes of the NY stock exchange - they show the consequences of share trading, the lack of understanding of the average consumer and give you a better understanding of where the money comes from. If you're anything like me then this film takes you on a ride where you are the main character every step of the way until finally you return to life with a much deeper understanding of the desires people succumb to in modern society. This film includes very young appearances by a lot of famous actors, Ben Affleck, Vin Diesel etc. who all pull their weight to give life to the film. I'm explaining the film in a very stale way but I can't help it, it's on par with 'fight club' - you can't explain why the film is good in a way that does it justice, just watch 2 hours of cinema that will improve your quality of life.

Although Giovanni Ribisi is the main character, Seth, one of the most outstanding performances is by Vin Diesel as Chris. In Boiler Room he shows that he is more than muscle as he acts his pants off! If you like Wall Street, you will love this - there is even a tribute to it in the movie. An intelligent movie dealing with the desire to get rich quick, regardless of the consequences. A must see!

Great movie, I really enjoyed the most of it except the ending. The producer got it right until that last 30 minutes or so. It lost pace and drama, and I was definitely not expecting the movie to end like that.I would have liked to see the policeman coming and rocking the boiler room. I would have also liked to see just how far Nia Long would have gone with her complicated love life. Great movie but pathetic ending !!!!

The plot in Boiler Room is true to reality. A friend of mine was telling me about an outfit he used to work for in the 80's. Worked just like JT Marlin. They switched name three times in two years. My friend called people who lived far away so he wouldn't have to run into them at the grocery store.

The way the company keeps their brokers hungry is by encouraging excessive spending, such as luxury cars, so they have to make even more money to keep up with the lifestyle.

Boiler Room has a group of young actors that all play their parts well. Giovanni Ribisi makes a good appearance, and Nia Long needs to be in more movies.

The large and well-selected cast turned in very powerful performances. They crafted a convincing range of emotions, from cunning cut-throat manipulators of their clients' personal wealth during office hours, to brief examples of their "boys will be boys" shenanigans after hours. The story line is built completely around their personal financial greed, the hapless victims they scammed to realize it (with the greatest focus on one of them), and a well-sustained sense of mystery that plants seeds of possibilities along the way. The ending was not at all predictable; it could have gone in any of several directions. The viewer gets the impression that if these predators could yank even the last remaining penny out of a client on his (they targeted males) deathbed, they'd gleefully do so and view it as a major coup giving them full bragging rights. There's a hint of information about how legitimate stockbrokers earn their credentials and that was enlightening. The romantic angles are minimalized and that serves to benefit the film. The language is consistently coarse, but certainly seemed realistic for the characters' ages, their business sector and their work ethic. For everyone who enjoyed "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Wall Street" (both of which are alluded to in the film), or even more appropriately "The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron," this feature will really score a bulls-eye.