Reviews & Ratings for
Boiler Room More at IMDbPro »

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50 out of 66 people found the following review useful:

A sale is always made...

Author: tom from Canada
25 March 2004

I remember when i had a short stint working for this telemarketing company, my boss used to always say "A sale is made on every call. Either you sell them what you are selling or they sell you an excuse." This is the message that this film hammers through: the lure of fast money and the power of persuation; you can destroy someone's life with one phonecall. Now unlike the characters in Boiler Room, im not trying to scam you out of your life savings- so stop reading these reviews and see the movie. You won't regret it. 8/10

40 out of 57 people found the following review useful:

Depressing, yet hard edged

Author: MisterWhiplash from United States
23 June 2000

This film owes a credit to Glengarry Glenn Ross and Wall Street, but I actually liked this better. Why? Because it seemed more real to me (the script and acting probably did it) than the other films. I liked the Giovanni Ribisi character, who changes slightly through the film, but eventually we see the real side of him, which is great. Funny, thrilling and cool, this film may not be for the weak at heart, but it is for anyone who can afford the tickets. Ben Affleck appears (in one of his better performances) as Ribisi's showy and pushy boss at the stock place. One of the better films (top 20) of the new year. A+

33 out of 46 people found the following review useful:

Very impressed

Author: stephie-12 from Malvern, England
26 November 2003

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!

29 out of 39 people found the following review useful:

A must see film

Author: Dan Grant (dan.grant@bell.ca) from Toronto, Ontario
13 March 2000

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I don't know all there is to know about the stock market. I know the basics and that could get me by until I asked people that were much more well versed and graceful when it comes to that side of business. I do know however that the stock market can be sleazy and deceitful at times and it can also be cut-throat economics. With this in mind I went into this picture with high hopes of at least a film that would teach me something about a part of life that I knew very little about. I was also intrigued because Ben Affleck looked like he had the Alec Baldwin role from Glen Gary Glen Ross, that small but explosive role where the seasoned vet comes in and tells eveyone how to sell, when to sell and what the best way to screw people out of their money is..... and hey, what do you know, I was right. Ben Affleck does have a similar role to Baldwin's. But what I wasn't expecting was the film that was before me. Boiler Room is one hell of a film and even if you know very little about stocks and bonds and insider trading and what-not, there is still plenty in here to keep you intrigued.

The actors in here, while not huge by name alone, are quite good and keep your attention. As I said earlier, Ben Affleck intrigued me the most, perhaps it isn't so much him but the character he plays. He was the cocky-know-it-all-millionaire-playboy that cares about nothing but closing the deal. He is greedy, self centered and most of all damn good at what he does. He teaches the new recruits how to become ruthless and mechanically shut off emotionally. In his world of stocks, there is no place for feelings of guilt, sorrow or pity. In his world all you have time for is greed and anxiety.... anxious to cash you next $100 000 paycheck. Ben Affleck has a small role in the film but it is an effective one.

Giovanni Ribisi plays the good guy here, Scott Caan plays a young and wealthy broker that uses his wealth and power as a way to let go of his anger by constantly getting into physical altercations. But in an impressive smaller role, the one who impressed me the most was Vin ( Caparzo from Saving Private Ryan and also the lead in Pitch Black )Diesel. He plays his character ( Chris ) right down the middle. He wants Seth ( Ribisi ) to succeed but he doesn't seem as ruthless as some of the other brokers and at the end he does something incredibly noble in the face of imminent doom, and that is what I found compelling about his character. Most of the other characters are all driven by success and money and show little compassion, but Chris ( Diesel ) does have that side to him and I enjoyed Diesel's performance quite a bit in Boiler Room.

The story is also quite intriguing and it is both fun and a little horrific to get into the heads and lives of these men as they deliberately try to ruin people's lives in the hopes of bettering their own. They fraudulently sell normal people bogus stocks to bogus companies and it doesn't matter that the people they are selling to are family, blue collar workers that want so badly to believe the American Dream has just landed in their lap that they believe anything that these total strangers are saying to them over the phone. And that gives the movie it's edge.

Boiler Room is the best movie I have seen so far in this new year. Although the new year is not even 4 months old yet, this is one film that may have a chance to make my top ten list of films for the year 2000. This is the first film for writer/director Ben Younger and at the age of 27 it looks as though this guy has a good future in the game. Not that I am comparing Younger to Spielberg or Boiler Room to Jaws, but Steven was 26 when he made Jaws and look where he is today. Again, I am not saying that Younger is following in those footsteps but it is a great film for a guy that is three years less than 30. I highly recommend this film to everyone!

8.5 out of 10.... a great triumph for Ben Younger and all involved.

31 out of 48 people found the following review useful:

The real thing

Author: jorgen68 from New Mexico
23 July 2003

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.

15 out of 21 people found the following review useful:

These Guys Can Act!

Author: TimeaSiesta from Mexico City, Mexico
3 August 2006

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.

15 out of 22 people found the following review useful:

Thinking with Testosterone

Author: glocksout from United States
14 August 2006

Boiler Room is basically about a young college drop-out, played by Giovanni Ribisi, who is seeking the quick way to the top. He starts an illegal gambling casino in his home, but is soon offered a job as a stock broker. This is a fast-paced occupation full of young guys who don't know what to do with their money. They gamble constantly, they party constantly; drugs, women and cars. On the surface, this is easily brushed off as a formulaic, pop-culture movie. If you pay attention though, this is a lot more than that. The subtext for this story is the relationship Ribisi has with his father. This relationship holds a lot of tension, and through the film goes through many changes both positive and negative, and culminates in a tear-jerking revelation. I'll admit it, I almost cried. But there is also a lot more going on here, most notably the story of one of Ribisi's clients who had domestic problems he had to face with his wife and children. His performance was impressive, and you really felt for him.

5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:

A very very very good film

Author: Gram from England
1 October 2010

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.

9 out of 13 people found the following review useful:

Heart and blood of Madoff 's

Author: antileft from Slovenia
28 April 2009

There is hardly a movie that after nearly a decade proves even more real than reality itself, thus being perhaps one of the most prescient movies ever. Who would 've predicted that in less than a 10-year time America and the world would have found itself on the brink of a total collapse with eggheads and presidents alike unable to do anything to stop this chaos , having been brought on by that very human quality in its most negative sense , namely one of the basic destructive forces within men –greed ?! Yep , the authors of this film should be immediately named presidents of Harvard Economics Departments for painting a completely real picture of 25year old brokers at a anonymous JT Marlin , where only one rule applies : from now on you are in the world of 'as if ': act as if you were a multi-billionaire,as if you had a 9 inch penis ' , as the sky is the limit , and those selected ,will earn their first million$ within a year , and how - by lying , by selling non-existing stock to 'suckers'or to 'the old and dumb ' .No level of shenanigans , subterfuge, pretense is shied upon , as long as the line is open , and hundreds , perhaps thousands , constantly fed by the Orwellian propaganda of joy , prosperity and progress are virtually standing in line to feed their primordial sin – avarice ! Even though this little known celluloid work of art , propelled with a proper amount of fiercest rap and ingenious shots of Big Apple-sorry , more like the most vicious image of Gotham City and its environs , ends on a bright note, the damage of this philosophy of no work – roof top returns are unfortunately seen today on every corner of the globe with the horrible prospects ahead. Superb acting by everyone , specially by G. Ribisi and V. Diesel and a film that must be shown as lesson number one at all Economics Departments around this planet . With Nobel prize winners for this arcane ' craft ' cum philosophy cum science-Economics in obligatory attendance !

3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:

One of the BEST cult films of the decade

Author: jfmvp from United States
31 October 2009

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

If you're on IMDb and reading this review, I'm sure you know what a "cult" film is ("Donnie Darko" and "The Boondock Saints" are prime examples), and "Boiler Room" has become exactly that. It's a niche movie for 18-30 year old men who are frustrated with the grind, and would prefer an easier, quicker way to riches. "Boiler Room" also has some of the pent up male aggression that was astutely highlighted in "Fight Club."

As Seth Davis, Giovanni Ribisi plays the lead in this film. While his performance is solid and adequate in handling the most screen time, he is not the star of the show. Ben Affleck (as Jim Young), Nicky Katt (as Greg Weinstein), and Vin Diesel (as Chris Varick) provide the standout efforts of this ensemble cast.

Affleck, in an ode to Alec Baldwin's character in "Glengarry Glen Ross," is slick-talking, persuasive, and funny at the same time. Along with his work in "Good Will Hunting," this is one of the best performances of his interesting on-screen career. The same can be said of Diesel who, for once, doesn't appear to be out of sync or awkward in the delivery of his lines. His performance is smooth and a very, very pleasant surprise.

Katt is the sleeper of the trio (seen in smaller roles in "The Brave One" and "Insomnia"), and I like his attitude and confidence in the Weinstein role. He showcases the ability to handle a significant workload, and it's unfortunate that he hasn't garnered more screen time in subsequent movies. I doubt he was too happy going uncredited in "The Dark Knight."

Getting back to "Boiler Room," youthful director Ben Younger does an outstanding job with pacing. This film blurs by without ever feeling too light or heavy, and Younger coaxes superb performances from his cast. The ensemble seems very comfortable working off each other, and Younger deserves credit for finding the right dynamic.

Unfortunately for Younger, like Katt, he hasn't found subsequent success. That's disappointing to me, because the former flashes a great deal of promise with "Boiler Room." It's one of my favorite lower-budget films of the decade, and it's a shame that it didn't make a little more money. When crap like "Transformers II" smashes in the box office, it makes you feel for quality movies that flop.

It is what it is though, and "Boiler Room" gets a big thumbs up from me.

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