Boiler Room (2000)

A college dropout gets a job as a broker for a suburban investment firm, which puts him on the fast track to success, but the job might not be as legitimate as it sounds.

Director:

Ben Younger

Writer:

Ben Younger

Stars:

Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Seth Davis
Vin Diesel	...	Chris Varick
Nia Long	...	Abbie Halpert
Nicky Katt	...	Greg Weinstein
Scott Caan	...	Richie O'Flaherty
Ron Rifkin	...	Judge Marty Davis
Jamie Kennedy	...	Adam
Taylor Nichols	...	Harry Reynard
Bill Sage	...	FBI Agent David Drew
Tom Everett Scott	...	Michael Brantley
Ben Affleck	...	Jim Young
John Griesemer	...	Concierge
David Younger	...	Marc
Herbert Russell	...	Kid (as Russell Harper)
Mark Webber	...	Kid

Storyline

Seth Davis is a college dropout running an illegal casino from his rented apartment. Driven by his domineering fathers disapproval at his illegitimate existence and his desire for serious wealth, Seth suddenly finds himself seduced by the opportunity to interview as a trainee stock broker from recent acquaintance Greg (Nicky Katt). Walking into the offices of JT Marlin, a small time brokerage firm on the outskirts of New York - Seth gets an aggressive cameo performance from Jay (Ben Affleck) that sets the tone for a firm clearly placing money above all else. Seth's fractured relationship with his father and flirtatious glances from love interest Abbie (Nia Long) are enough to keep Seth motivated in his new found career. As he begins to excel and develop a love for the hard sale and high commission, a few chance encounters leads Seth to question the legitimacy of the firms operations - placing him once again at odds with his father and what remains of his morality. With homages to Wall...

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Plot Keywords:

stock | judge | casino | career | stock broker | 

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Taglines:

Motion creates Emotion!

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Genres:

Thriller | Drama | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language and some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Filmexport (French) New Line

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

18 February 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

1 km da Wall Street

Filming Locations:

Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£88,765 (UK) (5 May 2000)

Gross:

$16,938,179 (USA) (7 July 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Team Todd

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Chris (Vin Diesel) and Seth (Giovanni Ribisi) are waiting outside Greg's (Nicky Katt) house, we never see the car move or get turned on. Before they shot the scene Ben Affleck was sitting in the car, listening to music. He accidentally took the car keys home with him. They absolutely had to shoot the scene that night and couldn't find Ben. They shot the scene with the car where it is and lit up the house so there wouldn't be a reflection of the camera and crew.

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Goofs

After Seth and Chris have their argument in the stairwell right off of the boiler room, Seth goes down at least one flight of stairs on his way out. In the next scene he passes Abby in the receptionist area that is on the same floor as the boiler room - because he's been bumped upstairs to nicer offices.

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Quotes

Greg Weinstein: Don't pitch the bitch.

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Crazy Credits

At the start of the film, the New Line Cinema studio logo features the faces from various U.S. Dollar bills, and the studio fanfare music uses a hip-hop "scratch" sound effect.

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Connections

Referenced in Don't Be an Asshole (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Area"
Written by Prince Paul, Trugoy The Dove, P.A. Pacemaster Mase and Posdnous
Performed by De La Soul
Courtesy of Tommy Boy Music

User Reviews

These Guys Can Act!

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.