Seth Davis (Ribisi), a
nineteen-year-old college dropout, runs a casino out of his
Queens apartment. When his father (Rifkin), a well respected
judge, discovers that he has dropped out of school and begun
to engage in illegal activities, he expresses his continued
disappointment with Seth. Seth is overcome with the need to
be accepted by his father, and after being introduced to
Greg (Katt), a successful stockbroker, he uses this as an
opportunity to go straight and redeem himself in the
process. Walking into the offices of J.T. Marlin in suburban
Long Island, he encounters a world that at first overwhelms
him, but eventually wins him over. The individuals who
inhabit these "boiler rooms" (basically sweatshops
for business types) are young, aggressive, and driven by an
animalistic greed for money that borders on the
psychopathic. Seth learns the ropes from the more
experienced Greg and Chris (Diesel), and falls under their
materialistic influence. It doesn't help that he has an
obvious knack for the craft, and pretty soon he's on his way
to closing deals of his own. After he starts dating Abby
(Long), the firm's receptionist, he slowly begins to learn
that J.T. Marlin isn't the honest firm that he initially
thought they were. By the time he makes the decision to get
out of the game, it might already be too late.
A supercharged ride through the cutthroat world of
illegal stock selling, BOILER ROOM is fueled by an electric
hip-hop soundtrack. Ribisi portrays Seth Davis, a college
dropout who thinks he's going straight when he takes a job
at J.T. Marlin, a stock firm located in Long Island. Seth
wants nothing more than to be loved and respected by his
father, a revered judge. As he learns the ropes and begins
to make waves within the company, he discovers that J.T.
Marlin might be a bogus operation after all. A last attempt
at redeeming himself threatens to land both him and his
father in jail. Younger's film is an adrenaline rush of a
motion picture.
"...[A] brainy thriller....Deserves to become a
college-student clut rental..." -- 4 out of 5 stars -
Watch More Than Once
"...Affleck is the one surefire star of the
movie...[When he's on screen] the movie sizzles..."
"...Absorbing and entertaining..."
"...[A] toxic spellbinder....Ribisi scores with a
performance of quicksilver intelligence..."
"...A classy, accurate script and some powerhouse
performances by rising stars..."
"...A misanthropic snap and verve..." --
Rating: B
"...[The film] shows us a group of actors, and a
filmmaker, with soul to spare and talent to burn..."
"...Ribisi carries the film quite nicely. He is an
intense, brooding presence..."
"...The movie hums with authenticity....The movie
has the high-octane feel of real life, closely
observed..."
