(Rated R, 110 min.) Opens Feb. 18
Welcome to the infamous “Boiler Room” of J.T. Martin, where twenty-something millionaires are made overnight. Here, in the inner sanctum of a fly-by-night brokerage firm, hyper-aggressive young stockjocks peddle to unsuspecting buyers over the phone -– and are rewarded with mansions, Ferraris and more luxury toys than they know what to do with.
The story focuses on 19-year-old college dropout Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) who has just joined the inner circle of the boiler room boys. Fired up like the others, Seth wants to earn just two things in life: a million dollars and his father’s respect. His obsessions eventually lead to fatal choices and a Fed investigation on the brink of losing everything. The longer Seth stays in the boiler room, the more things begin to heat up.
Based on one of the most riveting expose and lucrative scams in American history, this movie parallels on a softer level (if possible) the recent “Fight Club” flick meets the intensity of “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Touching on similarly evoked emotions as Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” but this time in a world of illegal stock brokering.
The story forces the viewer to reflect on mega instant wealth in the wake of cyberboom and secretaries at Microsoft with stock options worth millions. Lead actor Ribisi plunges himself into this role with the same vigor as his performance in Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan.” Also stars Nia Long, Tom Everett Scott, Nicky Katt, Ron Rifkin and Ben Affleck.