New Line's 'Boiler Room' an emotionally charged winner

MPAA Rating: R

Starring: Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Ben Affleck , Nia Long

Director: Ben Younger

Studio: New Line Cinema

Running Time: 120 minutes

Rating: yyyyy

Boiler Room is a look inside the high-pressure world of stockbrokers tasked to push questionable investments on unsuspecting investors. The film stars a crop of fresh young talent, including Giovanni Ribisi and Vin Diesel of Saving Private Ryan fame. Also making quick appearances as a charismatic but vicious broker recruiter is Ben Affleck.

As the film opens, we are introduced to Seth Davis (Ribisi), a young man with intelligence but no interest in traditional career paths. He wants to get rich quick. To the dismay of his family, he has dropped out of college and is running a casino out of his New York City apartment. To make matters worse, his father (Ron Rifkin) is a judge with no patience at all for Seth's dalliances with things illegal.

Through a twist of fate and his desire for wealth, Seth becomes involved with a brokerage house operating an hour away from Wall Street. From the beginning, it is clear that the house is a place of loose morals, low ethics, and quick dealing. But this is what's expected from a modern brokerage house, right?

Seth, being a bright lad, succeeds brilliantly and in a short while has made enough sales under his supervisor Greg Weinstein (Nicky Katt) to be selling for himself. It even looks as though he may finally earn the respect of his father (which is the only thing Seth wants more than a million dollars).

However, things don't go so well for very long. The stocks that Seth peddle quickly take a dive, and Weinstein is determined to make Seth miserable (because Seth is dating Weinstein's ex-girlfriend). To make matters worse, Seth begins to get the impression that his employer may not be entirely above the board. In fact, federal regulators seem to be sniffing around, looking for wrongdoing.

So should Seth pursue the girl (Long) and risk the wrath of powerful Senior Broker Weinstein? Should he continue to work for a firm that may be illegal? He is making money, and no one ever said that selling stock was a virtuous pursuit anyhow. But breaking the law again would surely alienate him from his father forever.

Boiler Room shines as we watch street-smart Seth wrestle with questions of respect, morality, and legality. He is surrounded by brokers who encourage him to sell hard. They may not be savory characters (in fact they are downright disreputable), but they have more money than they know what to do with, and Seth wants that. Balancing this corrupting force is Seth's desire to please his emotionally distant father.

Stylistically, Boiler Room is a winner. The atmosphere alternates between the thick tension and high pressure of the sales floor and the overwhelming feeling Seth has that events are rapidly spinning out of his control. Especially worthy of mention is the director's use of cuts between scenes. Just when a scene is about to become so painful as to make the audience squirm, there is an unexpected cut into a completely different part of the story. Which is not to say that you won't squirm some, as the movie pulls no punches when it comes to showing the pain caused by unethical activity on the part of the brokers.

The characters in this movie are also compelling. All of the senior brokers are vicious con men, each with his own terrible vice. Seth's father wants his son to succeed, but doesn't know how to help him fix his life. Seth's love interest is the secretary at the firm, and wouldn't be working there but for her financial straits. Seth himself doesn't know if he's coming or going. He just knows that he's found something he's good at, and is that so wrong?

Don't go to see this movie if bad behavior and loose morals easily disturb you. Do go to see it if you want a new experience at the theater. This movie has a pace and style all its own, great emotional depth, a slick plot, and a non-traditional ending. And it will make you think twice about buying stock over the phone.