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Boiler Room

Boiler Room

List Price: $12.98
Your Price: $9.74
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Gotta love the cast!
Review: Just rented the movie, and I thought it was really great! I never really liked Giovanni Ribisi, but after seeing this movie, I really think he's great! The supporting cast was so cool, with Nicky Katt, Vin Diesel, Ben Affleck and Tom Everett Scott. Some parts, I really wanted to smack Seth though, for being so whipped by his dad. Like Jim Young said "... your parents! ... 'em! see how they feel when you're paying their ...lexus payments!" But all in all, thought it was great. Nicky Katt is soo hot! :-D

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: don't compare this movie to wall street
Review: I think the BIGGEST mistake people make about this film is they expect a 'gen x' version of the film Wall Street. Well, don't.

This film stands by itsself. Its not meant to be a remake of 'Wall Street.' They are both about the stock market, yes. They are both about ruthless yuppies, sure. But the similarities stop there.

Boiler Room is a drama/suspense/mystery film. Its about the classic story of a son willing to do ANYTHING to prove himself to his father. Its never dull, it always keeps you guessing, and its got a 'real world' feel to it.

So, again, watch this film like you would watch any other film. Don't try to hold it to the standard of 'Wall Street'. If you let the movie stand on its own, you'll be able to appeciate it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: New spin on the speech-act play
Review: You win no points comparing this to Glengarry Glen Ross(which is the subject of my thesis), as they make specific references to Mamet's play (produced 15 years ago, by the way) in the film. True, this may be the same type of story, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a story about con artists that David Mamet hasn't already written. This is new, younger, hipper, and, dare I say, funnier than it's predecessor. Vin Diesel is impressive and interesting and Giovanni Ribisi is endearing. The film is well written and the alternate ending is great. I'm not sure which ending I like better... I like them both for different reasons. I would not hesitate to call this an "art film" because it does read much like a piece of theatre.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: movie for thought
Review: This movie did nothing in the theaters but now it has it's revenge. This is a great movie to add to the collection. The extras include an alternate ending which is strong, and just as good of an ending as the final version. Some of the other deleted scenes prooved quickly why they were cut. The plot has a Mamet feel to it, and the acting is not over the top. This is not an action film, but more to think about. Think about it...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Made Redundant by Glengarry Glen Ross
Review: Much better than I expected it would be. Kind of an update of "Glengarry Glen Ross" with stockbrokers instead of real estate salesmen but without the drama or tension. I don't know. This movie is so good in so many ways but so bad in so many others. I think the recent stock market mania is a topic that should be depicted in a movie but maybe Stone's "Wall Street" and Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" have made any future movies about greed derivative and trite. And it's a real shame that the film didn't explore more fully the co-opting of hip-hop culture by these white yuppie-wanna-bes.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It's been done before...
Review: Correct me if i'm wrong but doesn't the movie movie seem to more than ' borrow ' from " Wall Street " ? An investment advisor moving up the ranks and getting a crisis of conscience from a deal gone wrong, while conveniently getting his dad in the fix at the same time. Hello ?!?! It seems that the homage to Stone's far more superior flick in a scene in the Boiler Room tries to conceal this. Rent Wall Street again if you don't believe me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hang up
Review: The story of Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi), a young college dropout trying to make his father (Ron Rifkin) proud of him. The story starts with Seth running a successful small-time casino out of his house much to the dismay of his father when he finds out. So Seth decides to start at the bottom and become a stockbroker trainee. Alas the brokerage house is a "chop shop," one of those brokerages on the fringe that sell a variety of very risky and easily manipulated stocks to unsuspecting rubes over the phone. These include penny stocks, unregistered and letter stocks that the brokerage sells from its own inventory at a tremendous mark up. Seth starts as a cold caller while he studies for his series 7 exam (test for a broker license). Seth becomes very good at his job, but he knows something is very wrong about his employer, and that he is cheating people. But Seth is really a decent person after all and proves himself later. This film is often compared to "Wall Street," but it is really more like Glengarry Glen Ross only with stocks instead of real estate. Generally fine performances by the entire cast, good dramatic tension and realistic. The family conflicts that lie at the heart of the drama are moving. The story line bears an incredible resemblance to the book "License to Steal" by Anonymous. The moral: never never buy a stock from anyone over the phone who cold calls you. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Did we Really need another Film like This?
Review: The Big Question that surrounds "Boiler Room" is... "Is this a Story that Needed to be Told". And the answer is.. No, It's not a True story, It's not a very Exciting story, but it Does manage to hold interest because of a Strong lead performance by Giovanni Ribisi and a Spectacular Supporting cast.

The story involves Seth Davis, (Ribisi) a guy in his Early Twenties who runs an illegal casino out of his apartment. When a friend knocks on the door with a job offer, Seth takes it, as he wishes to show his dad that he can do Legitimate work. Within Three months he is one of the Top Stock-Brokers at the firm, but he also starts to believe that the firm is Corrupt.

The Jumpy Editing got on my nerves here and there, but it was only real used in the first half of the film, and once it stopped, the film Improved. The directing is nothing Fancy, not Bad, but not Spectacular. Writer/director Ben Younger lets his Terrific cast tell the story. "Boiler Room" suffers from Seen-it-all-before Syndrome. If you know that going in, you can just sit back and enjoy the Top-notch performances.

Ribisi is as Spectacular as ever, he carries the film. Every facial expression, every line of dialogue, he makes look totally authentic. Vin Diesel, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott and Jamie Kennedy give Wonderful Supporting performances as his Co-workers. Diesel gets more screen time then the others and he registers best.

Ron Rifkin gives the performance of his Career as Seth's Father. The scenes where he and Seth talk, argue, and ultimately mature are among the films Best scenes. (certainly the best Dialogue scenes) But, in the end it is Ben Affleck who walks off with the film, his Extended Cameo proves why he is so Popular. The whole film is about selling people stuff they don't need, we didn't need another film like this, but Ben sells it to us anyway, and I bought it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Extremely obvious.
Review: Although Ribisi's character if fairly well developed the rest of the players are more like charicatures than real people. But I have to add that I loved Ben Afleck as the companies training officer. The film could have benefited more from his presence on screen.

To compare this film to Wall Street is like comparing Al Bundy's high school football exploits to Emmit Smith. They each may have had similar goals but only 1 reached them.

Just doesn't really work.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Mostly interesting for its flaws
Review: This is a poorly written, badly directed film that is nevertheless entertaining for two reasons: you will keep asking yourself "where have I seen this guy before?" and it's the type of bad movie that is fun to analyze to understand its flaws.


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