Boiler Room (film)

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Boiler Room
Boiler room ver3.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ben Younger
Written byBen Younger
Produced by Jennifer Todd
Suzanne Todd
Starring
Cinematography Enrique Chediak
Edited byChris Peppe
Music byThe Angel
Production
company
Team Todd
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release dates
  • January 28, 2000 (2000-01-28)(Sundance)
  • February 18, 2000 (2000-02-18)(United States)
Running time
120 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7 million [2]
Box office$28 million [2]

Boiler Room is a 2000 American crime drama film written and directed by Ben Younger and starring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Ben Affleck, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott, Ron Rifkin and Jamie Kennedy. The film was conceived when Younger interviewed for a job at brokerage firm Sterling Foster. "I walked in and immediately realized, 'This is my movie.' I mean, you see these kids and know something is going on." [3]

Contents

The film was nominated for several awards including a Black Reel Award, a British Independent Film Award and two Independent Spirit Awards. It won the Special Jury Prize at the 2000 Deauville Film Festival.

Plot

In 1999, Seth Davis, a Queens College dropout, runs a casino in his home near campus, catering to college students. Although his earnings are successful, his father, federal judge Marty Davis, views him as a disappointment. One night, his cousin Adam stops by the casino to play blackjack, bringing an associate named Greg Weinstein. Greg recruits Seth to join J. T. Marlin, a brokerage firm based off the Long Island Expressway, promising him an opportunity to get rich.

Arriving at the firm, Seth attends a group interview and learns from Jim Young, one of its co-founders, what is expected of his work and also how to become a millionaire, which he assures to new applicants will happen within three years of their first day of employment at J. T. Marlin. The firm's techniques of selling include cold calling investors to sell stock and Seth joins as a stockbroker trainee, having to close 40 accounts and pass a Series 7 Exam to begin working independently. He soon makes a good living, wins his father's approval, and embarks on a romance with Abbie Halpert, a secretary and Greg's ex-girlfriend.

Gradually, he learns J. T. Marlin is a chop shop brokerage firm that runs a pump and dump, using its brokers to create artificial demand in the stock of expired or fake companies and speculative penny stocks. When the firm is done pumping the stock, the founders sell and trade for legitimate stocks for record profits. However, the investors then have no one to sell their shares to in the market when the stock price plummets, causing them to lose their investment. FBI agents investigating the firm decide to pursue Seth, hoping to make him their informant.

Seth passes his Series 7 Exam and becomes a broker. He then contacts Harry Reynard, a gourmet food company's purchasing manager. Initially reluctant, Harry gives in after Seth lies about the stock being guaranteed to go up in value. Seth sells him 100 shares at $8 each. When the stock's value drops, Harry calls to ask what has gone wrong, only for Seth to persuade him into buy more worthless shares. The stock eventually tanks, costing Harry his savings and family.

Feeling guilty for scamming Harry, Seth resolves to shut the firm down. Marty, discovering it was nothing more than a chop shop, disowns him, accusing him of destroying peoples' lives. Seth investigates further, discovering the firm's founders are already preparing to abandon J. T. Marlin, destroy the records, and cut ties with their employees to rebrand and start the scheme under a new name, leaving their victims to face a lengthy legal battle with little hope of recovering the money. Seth shows up at Marty's office and tearfully explains he shut his casino down and went along with a criminal line of work he thought was legal to gain his approval. He then requests his father help him on an IPO scheme to rob the firm of their money and bring them down, hoping his actions, while illegal, will recover enough money to help J. T. Marlin's victims. Although Marty initially refuses due to the risk of losing his judgeship, he calls Seth the next day, reconciling with him and offering to help.

Seth is eventually arrested by the FBI for violating 26 SEC and NASD regulations and is brought into custody along with his father, as the bureau had discovered their IPO scheme from a tape-recorded phone conversation. They offer federal immunity if he agrees to testify against J. T. Marlin, but threaten to involve Marty in order to assure his cooperation. Seth asserts he will testify against the firm only if his father is released. He and the agents come to an agreement, with Seth being kept overnight. Afterwards, it's implied he will be free as the FBI proceeds to raid the building and prosecute everybody else.

Seth returns to work the next day and follows the FBI's instructions to make copies of investment files on a floppy disk to use as evidence. Before leaving, he attempts to get Harry's money back. He lies to Michael Brantley, the company's founder, by explaining the firm can lose a lot of money by refusing to continue business with Harry Reynard, who Seth makes out to be an important prospect. Brantley agrees to proceed, offering him shares of the next IPO, with a caveat that states he cannot sell the shares until the firm sells off theirs. In order to sell the shares behind Michael's back, Seth needs a sell ticket signed by a senior broker, something his direct supervisor, Greg, explicitly said he would never do. He seeks a signing from Chris Varick, explaining he might as well do one thing right in helping a severely hit investor make his money back, since the firm will now be raided and, soon enough, there will be no future in continuing business at J. T. Marlin. Chris reluctantly agrees and proceeds to escape the building in an attempt to flee federal enforcement. Seth walks out, wondering what to do with his life since his ties with J. T. Marlin are finished. As he departs in his car, several FBI vehicles enter the parking lot, with agents ready to raid the building.

Cast

Production

In interviews, Ben Younger said he was inspired to write the script for the film after going to a job interview at a Long Island-based brokerage firm that turned out to be a pyramid scheme. [4] [5] Younger said he used a speech given by a top broker to the would-be trainees as the model for the lecture the Jim Young character makes early in the film. [4] Jordan Belfort, a former stockbroker and financial criminal who would write The Wolf of Wall Street , claimed that the movie was also loosely based on his rise and fall. [6] [7] Younger spent two years interviewing stockbrokers at boiler rooms, where callers aggressively peddle often fraudulent investments to consumers. [4] Younger sold his script on the condition that he direct. Artisan Entertainment initially backed the production and helped bring actors Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, and Affleck to the project, but later backed out. New Line Cinema then stepped in for distribution. [4]

Release

Box office

The film opened in the United States on February 18, 2000 alongside Hanging Up , Pitch Black and The Whole Nine Yards , grossing $6.7 million on its opening weekend. Eventually, the film grossed $17 million domestically and $11.8 million in other territories, with a worldwide total of $28.8 million. [2] [8]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 66% based on reviews from 104 critics. The site's consensus is: "Its ending is disappointingly tidy, but Boiler Room boasts just enough sharp writing and brisk pacing to make getting there worthwhile." [9] On Metacritic the film has a score of 63 out of 100 based on reviews from 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews [10] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade C+ on scale of A to F. [11]

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The performances of Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, and Nia Long received positive attention from critics.

Multiple critics noted the film's echoes of other corporate greed films like Wall Street and Glengarry Glenn Ross . [12] [13] [14] Malcolm Johnson of the Hartford Courant wrote "Affleck, the best-known actor in the ensemble, proves no match for Alec Baldwin of 'Glengarry,' who played a similar character in David Mamet's look at a phony real estate operation." [13] He also said "the screenplay misses the verbal pyrotechnics of both [Oliver] Stone and Mamet." [13] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote Giovanni Ribisi "captures Seth's man-child suavity as well as his childish sensitivity, and the sweetness underneath his cynicism", and "Nia Long brings wit and patience to the underwritten role of Marlin's receptionist and Seth's love interest, a black woman surrounded by white guys trying to act like homeboys." [15] Vin Diesel was also cited as being one of the more "likable" characters at the brokerage firm. [13] [16]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and wrote: "Has the high-octane feel of real life, closely observed." [16] Emanuel Levy of Variety gave the film a mixed review and said while it "begins extremely well as a saga of greed and conspicuous consumption...it gradually loses its bite." [17] Levy also praised Affleck for his performance. [17] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave it 3 out of 4 stars and called it "A compelling movie-going experience." [18] Berardinelli praised the attention to detail and said the film achieves "the same sort of insight into stock brokering that Glengarry Glenn Ross offered into sales. In fact, this aspect of the film is what makes Boiler Room a compelling movie-going experience. The characters and plot become secondary to the setting and atmosphere." [18]

Awards and nominations

AwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
Black Reel Awards Best Supporting Actress Nia Long Nominated
British Independent Film Awards Best Foreign Independent FilmNominated
Deauville American Film Festival Jury Special Prize Ben Younger Won [a]
Grand Special PrizeNominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best First Feature Ben Younger, Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd Nominated
Best First Screenplay Ben YoungerNominated
Teen Choice Awards Film - Choice Liar Giovanni Ribisi Nominated
Film - Choice Sleazebag Ben Affleck Nominated

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Tied with Memento .

References

  1. ↑ "Boiler Room". British Board of Film Classification. March 9, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Boiler Room at Box Office Mojo
  3. ↑ Hagan, Joe (October 28, 2007). "The Sucker Wears a Wire; How's a lowly day trader to survive in the new, high-stakes Wall Street? Cheat. Then flip". New York .
  4. 1 2 3 4 "From Boiler Room To Boiler Room". Forbes . December 20, 2002. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  5. ↑ Silver, Stephen (February 17, 2020). "'Boiler Room' at 20: A proto-'Wolf of Wall Street'". Tilt Magazine. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  6. ↑ Ryan, Mike (November 17, 2016). "From 'Boiler Room' To 'Bleed For This': The Strange Career Path Of Ben Younger". Yahoo! News. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  7. ↑ Belfort, Jordan (2007). The Wolf of Wall Street. Bantam Books. ISBN   978-0-55-380546-8.
  8. ↑ "Boiler Room (2000) - Financial Information". The Numbers .
  9. ↑ Boiler Room at Rotten Tomatoes
  10. ↑ "Boiler Room". Metacritic .
  11. ↑ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  12. ↑ "PARK CITY 2000 REVIEW: "Boiler Room" Offers Slick, Dick-Swinging Diversion". IndieWire. January 31, 2000. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Johnson, Malcolm (February 18, 2000). "'Boiler' a Gen-X 'Glengarry'". Hartford Courant . Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Gekko's Little Goons: Backstage With the Real Boiler Room Boys". Observer . January 31, 2000. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  15. ↑ Scott, A.O. (February 18, 2000). "'Boiler Room': Sell Enough Dicey Stocks to Rubes, and You Can Buy Ferraris" . Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  16. 1 2 Ebert, Roger (February 18, 2000). "Boiler Room Movie Review & Film Summary (2000)". Chicago Sun-Times .
  17. 1 2 Levy, Emanuel (February 7, 2000). "Boiler Room". Variety.
  18. 1 2 Berardinelli, James. "Boiler Room, The". Reelviews Movie Reviews.
  19. ↑ "Winners Nominations · BIFA · British Independent Film Awards". BIFA · British Independent Film Awards. October 24, 2000. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  20. ↑ "2000 | 26th edition". Deauville Film Festival. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  21. ↑ "16th Independent Spirit Awards Coverage (2001)". DigitalHit.com. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  22. ↑ "The Teen Choice Awards 2000". FOX.com. Archived from the original on August 9, 2001. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
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