4/5 Boiler Room
  by Gary Vogler
Very interesting movie for anyone interested in the way the investment industry is perceived. Gary

4/5 REALISTIC LOOK INTO THE WORLD OF PARASITES!
  by ! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b (TRI STATE AREA)
A very interesting look into the crooked side of stock trading, 'Boiler Room' may look a lot like the superior film 'Wall Street', but it stands on its own as a solid film about a very seedy world! Giovanni Ribisi is excellent as always and joins a well known cast of alpha male's with no scruples in this engrossing film! This is well worth checking out.

4/5 Rent it. Buy it.
  by P. R. McCoy (Bothell, WA USA)
I really enjoyed this film. Giovanni Ribisi is brilliant along with the rest of the cast. The film is carefully crafted with a sort of Rounders flavor (another great film). In addition to the great characters, I connected with the theme of a wayward son seeking a tough father's approval. While you may be put off by the number of f-bombs in the film (this one really ups the number from Beverly Hills Cop, a very mainstream film with a huge number of f-bombs) stay with the film and give yourself time to make sense of the story and connect with the characters. The Boiler Room delivers a very satisfying movie experience. Rent it. Watch it. Buy it. Watch it.
Boiler Room
Boiler Room (2000) (Blu-Ray) [Blu-ray]
Rounders (Collector's Edition)
Rounders 10th Anniversary (1998) [Blu-ray]

2/5 Not what I thought it would be.
  by M. Barnstead (Sealy Texas)
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.

4/5 And best of all kids, I am liquid
  by C. CRADDOCK (Bakersfield)
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.

---------------
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.
========================

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.

------------------
Man on phone: Take me off your list.
Seth Davis: Fine, fine. I'm gonna take you off my list of successful people today.
===========================

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.

---------------
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.
=========================

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.

-----------------
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.
=========================

Time for more lessons from motivational speaker, Jim Young:

-------------------
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?
=============================

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?

-------------
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.
========================

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.

-------------------------
Seth Davis: I had a very strong work ethic. The problem was my ethics in work.
=====================================

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

--------------------
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.
===================================