Product Details

• Actors: Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan
• Directors: Ben Younger
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English, Russian
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: New Line Home Video
• VHS Release Date: January 16, 2001
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (148 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000053V9A
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,319 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The intense soundtrack of Boiler Room is a fitting underscore for this movie, which pulses with the vigor of young, rich, amoral men wreaking havoc. This is not the antisocietal havoc of Fight Club, but the more deliberate mayhem that comes from greed run amok. The testosterone-junkie brokers of J.T. Marlin (the only female in the office is Abby, the receptionist and love interest, played by Nia Long) are out to make the sale, and whether that sale is legal or ethical doesn't matter.

Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) is a 19-year-old college dropout who strives for approval from his father (Ron Rifkin), a judge who is horrified that his son operates a 24-hour illicit casino. When an old friend visits the casino with a fellow broker, Davis is impressed by their wads of money and yellow Ferrari, and decides to join the firm. In no time he's making sales and settling into the groove of the office and all the after-hours perks, but the dream fades when Davis discovers the scam that is making all of the brokers wealthy beyond their dreams.

Borrowing heavily from Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross, Boiler Room is at its best when dealing with matters of money, and powerful scenes of Davis learning to be a "closer" showcase the significant talent of Ribisi, Nicky Katt, and Vin Diesel. The movie flounders when developing the relationship between Davis and his father, becoming sentimental and trite. However, as a fable of modern society and a nostalgic vehicle about the days of yuppies past, Boiler Room is right on the money. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More realistic than you may think!, March 13, 2005

By	Broker since 90 (Chicago, IL.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boiler Room (DVD)

I am a Stockbroker with 15 years of experience. I began my career working for a firm that was like the firm portrayed in the film in many respects. In fact, I have heard this film was based on a firm that ended up merging with the one I worked for.

The film provides a very accurate portrayal of a Small Cap firm from the late 80s to early 90s. For example, the recruitment process was perfect. You didn't need a resume, you didn't need an education and they didn't want people who already had licenses. They wanted raw recruits that didn't know anything and they made money on the testing process.

After you passed the test, you received no training, you got a list (any way you could) and cold called until you opened an account on what they told you to buy. If you didn't open accounts within a month you were out. In the film, they cut off Riblisi's tie as a right of passage. In my firm, the first time you did $1000 in commissions in a single day they cut off your tie.

Other things are realisitic as well; the fact that the firm has positions in the stocks that they sell and there is extra commission at certain moments, the Brokers all know every word of the movie- Wall Street, that they have big houses or apartments with no furniture, they drink and get into scrapes as a group, that all happened at my firm.

There are many more examples of parallels between the firm in the movie and the experiences of the main characters and my own real life experiences. This movie may seem outrageous or over the top to some, but, it is as accurate as a movie about this subject could be.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gen X Wall Street, October 3, 2000

By	"mystic80" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boiler Room (DVD)

At first, I was a little apprehensive about "Boiler Room" thinking it was just gonna be "Wall Street: Part 2". I finally rented it on tape and loved it. One of this year's most underrated films, Boiler Room is a smart and energetic film with excellent performances from it's right cast. The film tells the story of Seth Davis, a decent college dropout earning a living by running a casino inside his house, much to the strong dismay of his frustrated judge father. In order to impress his dad, Seth takes on a job at a stock brokerage firm where he becomes a fast tracking stock broker and making good money. Only later does he find out that his job isn't what it's cracked up to be. The performances are strong, particularly from lead Ribisi and supporting characters Nicky Katt as a two faced co-worker, Ron Rifkin as his dad, and Scott Caan as a hotheaded co-worker. Vin Diesel does quite well as the good guy to Ribisi's Davis. The film definitely has the testosterone feel of a Generation X movie with The Angel's rap/classical score. There's even an homage to "Wall Street" that I don't want to spoil. If you're in the mood for a really good film, rent "Boiler Room". Look for the director Ben Younger in a cameo as a stock broker.

34 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Boiler loses steam in the second half, February 26, 2000

By	Eugene Wei "eugene" (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The first half of Boiler Room is highly entertaining. True, it borrows unabashedly from Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross, but it pays homage to those films with flair. This story, about a shady securities firm which uses money-hungry young alpha males to push bum stocks on an unsuspecting public, is actually more true to life than most realize. I have friends who have worked at or crossed path with such firms, and many of them remind me of the young hotshots of Boiler Room. Anyone who has read the cult classic Liar's Poker will see some similar personalities in this film.

The first half, which follows the entrance of young Seth (Giovanni Ribisi) into this "chop shop" brokerage firm J.T. Marlin, has a certain snap, crackle, and pop. The employees of this firm are like an immature gang of boys with too much money, but director Ben Younger gives them smart dialogue and a certain mischevious charm. They're the types of hip slicksters that outsiders scorn, but only with a certain amount of envy.

Affleck, Ribisi, and Vin Diesel are especially good. I haven't seen much of Vin Diesel except in Saving Private Ryan, but he's a dynamic young talent. Ribisi is a unique actor. Shy, and you can't tell if beneath it all he's psychotic or a sweet young kid.

Unfortunately, the second half introduces the usual manufactured Hollywood conflict and resolutions which always feel like a script doctor came in at the last minute to wrap a film up. The rocky relationship between Seth and his dad (Ron Rifkin) does not feel real. It is ironic that it is the introduction of a common theme, the strained relationship between father and son, that trips up the engrossing realism of this film. A smart audience recognizes that even young men with wonderful relationships with their fathers could be easily seduced by the promise of a quick fortune in the fraternity of J.T. Marlin.

In the end, this is a film worth watching on the strength of its first half. When a few of the young brokers in the film sit around watching Wall Street, reciting Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen's lines from heart, you'll wish you knew the words too.