Boiler Room (film)
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| Boiler Room | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Ben Younger |
| Produced by | Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd |
| Written by | Ben Younger |
| Starring | Giovanni Ribisi Vin Diesel Nia Long Nicky Katt Ron Rifkin Ben Affleck |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Running time | 118 mins |
| Budget | $9,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Boiler Room is a 2000 U.S. drama, written and directed by Ben Younger, and starring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel and Nia Long. Other characters in the film were played by Ben Affleck, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott, Ron Rifkin and Jamie Kennedy.
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[edit] Plot
The film takes a look at the world of "boiler room" (seedy, dishonorable) brokerage firms. The film centers around college dropout Seth Davis (Ribisi), a budding underground casino owner in Queens whose life turns upside down when offered employment at J.T. Marlin, a less-than-reputable brokerage firm. Davis' opposition to his disapproving federal judge father drives the plot as Davis goes deeper into the operation at J.T. Marlin than he'd like, learning how the firm scams its clients. The company runs a "pump and dump", using its brokers to create artificial demand in pumping up the price of an IPO of a fake company. Once the price rises, the firm sells its stake and cashes in. Its earnings are used in yet another IPO. Marlin trained their own brokers as to take advantage of their ignorance. When Seth winds up finding out that the Feds are on his case, he realizes he needs to get out, and needs to try and help one customer who couldn't really afford to be scammed in the first place.
[edit] Analysis
The film is often compared to Glengarry Glen Ross and Wall Street, and both movies are quoted -- by name and with lines of dialogue -- by characters in the film, and in one instance a whole scene (from Wall Street) is recited by the characters as they watch it on video. Alec Baldwin's character in Glengarry is often quoted by Ben Affleck's character. Boiler Room's dialogue has also been compared to that of David Mamet.[citation needed]
[edit] Score
The following songs are played throughout the movie:
- "New York (Ya Out There)" by Rakim
- "Keepin the Faith" by De La Soul
- "Funky Child" by Lords of the Underground
- "Segue to Word" by The Angel
- "Sunset Eyes" by Ernie Andrews
- "You Don't" by Tricky
- "Right Here" by Pharoahe Monch
- "What a Thug About" by Beanie Sigel
- "Things Done Changed" by The Notorious B.I.G.
- "Area" by De La Soul
- "Get on This" by Ugly Duckling
- "Ma Dukes" by O.C.
- "Award Tour" by A Tribe Called Quest
- "Supa Star" by Group Home
- "Anywayz" by Esthero
- "Destiny Complete" by The Angel f/ Mystic
- "Brand Nubian Rock the Set" by Brand Nubian
- "Impress the Kid" by Slick Rick
- "Simon Says" by Pharoahe Monch
- "Money or Love" by Saukrates
- "That Ain't Gangsta" by 50 Cent
[edit] Trivia
- The film is partly based on director Ben Younger's personal experiences. One of Younger's former jobs was as a broker at a boiler room, where he witnessed first hand the office tactics and procedures, which he soon realized were highly illegal. The experience inspired him to develop a script.[citation needed]
- Ben Affleck worked a couple days at SAG scale on the film, and presented Younger with a brand new BMW motorcycle as a gift.[citation needed]
- The Boiler Room DVD includes an alternate ending that implies a rampage massacre in the final scene by a financially disgruntled victim in the story.
