Boiler Room (2000)

Director:

Ben Younger

Writer (WGA):

Ben Younger (written by)

Release Date:

18 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama | Crime

Tagline:

Where would you turn? How far would you go? How hard will you fall?

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Casino | Stock | Investment | Stock Broker

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

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

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language and some drug content.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Russian | English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 (original rating) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #36838) | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

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.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as 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.

Quotes:

Greg Weinstein: Don't you have a canoli you can stick in your mouth?
Chris Varick: Don't you have a menorah you could shove up your ass?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Money or Love

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.