Boiler Room (film)

Boiler Room
Boiler Room
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ben Younger
Written by	Ben Younger
Produced by	Jennifer Todd ; Suzanne Todd
Starring	Giovanni Ribisi; Vin Diesel; Ben Affleck; Nia Long; Nicky Katt; Ron Rifkin; Tom Everett Scott; Scott Caan
Music by	The Angel
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Running time	118 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$26 million
Box office	$28,780,255

Boiler Room is a 2000 American drama film with themes of film noir, 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.

Plot

In 1999, Seth Davis (Ribisi) is a 19-year-old college dropout who lives and runs an illegal but successful underground casino in his Queens apartment. Because of dropping out of college and running an illegal business to support himself, his father Marty (Rifkin), a New York City federal judge disapproves of him and worries that Seth's criminal living may cost him his judgeship. In hopes to get on his father's good side, Seth joins J.T. Marlin, a brokerage firm based somewhere on the Long Island Expressway, when Greg Weinstein (Katt), an old Hebrew school friend of his, comes to his home to check out Seth's business and offers him a job at the firm. Seth agrees and becomes a trainee.

Everything seems to work out for Seth in the early days of his job. Arriving at J.T. Marlin, he learns from Jim Young (Affleck), one of the heads of the company, what he needs to do to become a millionaire working at the firm. Seth learns the ways of the company and does very well at his new job. He also embarks on a romance with Abbie Halpert (Long), an ex-girlfriend of Greg's, which Greg shows disapproval of and who often worries about her effect on his friends and workers. Seth also becomes part of the crowd of successful stock brokers, including Chris Varick (Diesel) and Richie O'Flaherty (Caan), and lives a high-life type of lifestyle with them, usually going out to restaurants with them and seeing their fights with other people. He hits a few snags though, including fights and arguments he has with Greg when Greg becomes to worried about Seth's explosively good work at his job, and when Seth closes down his casino because his employees don't appreciate their significantly increased salaries.

Seth is unaware of the dark side of his quickly successful job, as the FBI have been tracking the firm for a period of time. The company 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 by cold calling investors and selling them shares at prices set by the brokerage firm, which include a large commission to the brokers (up to three dollars a share for a penny stock). When the firm is done pumping the stock, the investors then have no one to sell their shares in the market, and the price of the stock plummets. This becomes a problem for one of Seth's clients, Harry Reynard (Nichols), a family man who is a purchasing manager of a gourmet foods company and is trying to buy a new house. After Seth sells him one hundred shares at eight dollars each, the stock market plummets and gets Harry into an excruciating financial situation. Even though Seth promises a smooth process in the investment, this promise does not live up, leaving Harry to be abandoned by his family.

Seth is eventually arrested by the FBI for the violation of SEC regulations. He is taken into custody by the FBI along with his father, who was taken in for attempting to conceal his son from the federal law- a conversation that was of a taped phone call. Seth is given federal immunity, meaning he cannot be arrested for as long as he agrees to testify against J.T. Marlin once all the suspects are taken into court. He does this on the condition his father does not get involved with the case, as he exchanges that for information on the firm's techniques of selling, relocations if law enforcement gets to close, etc. Seth is released and returns to work the next day, only to leave early when the FBI raid the building by midday. To deliver evidence that can be used against the firm, he inserts files of investments onto a floppy disk and hides it away. Before leaving, Seth attempts to get Harry's money back by lying to the J.T. Marlin the way they do with their clients. Michael Brantley (Scott), one of the company heads, agrees to go along with Seth's explanation, saying that in order to complete the process, Seth needs a ticket sale signed by a senior broker. Seth gets Chris to sign the ticket for him, after warning him about the raid, to which Chris decides to leave. Seth leaves the building deciding what to do with his life now that his job and ties with J.T. Marlin are finished. As he leaves, several cars including a bus, are seen coming into the parking lot from which FBI agents emerge, ready to raid the building.

Alternate ending

The DVD release includes an alternate ending that implies a workplace shooting by Harry Reynard.

Cast

Giovanni Ribisi - Seth Davis- the main protagonist of the film. Seth is a 19-year-old college dropout who first runs an illegal casino outside his apartment, but then joins J.T. Marlin, a brokerage firm, in order to make a more honest living and regain the trust of his disapproving father. He is often seen driving around in a late '90s Volvo V70 station wagon.
Vin Diesel - Chris Varick- One of Seth's close friends in the firm, who is a senior broker that trains Seth. Meaning no harm or expense towards others, Chris chooses to remain ignorant of the company's real secret.
Nia Long - Abbie Halpert- Seth's girlfriend in the movie and a secretary at the firm. She is a former date of Greg, who approaches her in a condescending and disapproving manner at times. She, like others, is also unaware of the firm's dark side.
Nicky Katt - Greg Weinstein- One of the heads of the firm. Greg was Seth's buddy from Hebrew school and intercepts him one night, offering him a job at the firm. Greg is one of the few workers at the firm that put together the scheme. He also owns a yellow Ferrari.
Ron Rifkin - Judge Marty Davis- Seth's father, who's a Manhattan federal judge. He disapproves of Seth's casino work, to which Seth decides to work at J.T. Marlin to make a more honest living and prove his father that even as a college dropout, he can still be successful in a legitimate job.
Ben Affleck - Jim Young- One of the heads of J.T. Marlin who also takes part in the company's schemes. He is aggressive and wants the best out of his workers and encourages them to be a driving force for the company. As evidence of his success, he drives a red Ferrari and owns a large mansion in New Jersey.
Tom Everett Scott - Michael Brantley- One of heads of the firm, who also partakes in the scheme.
Scott Caan - Richie O'Flaherty- A senior broker who is also very successful. Apart his success and well-being, Richie is extremely aggressive and combatant, picking fights with those who he feels he has a problem with, and is said to be a cocaine addict.
Adam- Seth's younger brother, who makes a brief appearance in a few scenes.
Kirk Acevedo - Guy on the phone in the boiler room (brief cameo)
Eddie Malavarca - Guy on the phone in the boiler room (brief cameo)

External links