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"A 'Room'
With a View"
by Scott Mantz
"Boiler Room"
Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Affleck
Directed by Ben Younger
In the Hollywood
farce "The Player", Tim Robbins plays a hotshot studio executive
who decides what movies he's going to make based on pitch meetings
he has with writers, producers, and directors. In the opening scene,
a couple of writers sum up their film idea as "Out of Africa" meets
"Pretty Woman", while another hopeful director describes his premise
as "Ghost" meets "The Manchurian Candidate". It's an amusing scene,
but it still clearly sums up the creative mindset of today's studio
system. Since Hollywood is obviously starving for original ideas,
why not pay homage to the best of what's already been done? That's
certainly the case with "Boiler Room". While it makes no effort
to hide it's inspiration (or should I say imitation) from 'Wall
Street" and "Glengarry Glen Ross", it still works as a surprisingly
hip, fast-paced, and adrenaline charged film.
Seth Davis (Giovanni
Ribisi) is a streetwise college dropout who, much to the chagrin
of his demanding judge-father, makes a decent living running an
illegal casino out of his apartment. He knows he can't keep it going
forever, so when opportunity knocks (literally), he answers the
door. He attends a recruitment seminar for a sleazy Long Island
brokerage house called J.T. Marlin and becomes seduced by what they
have to offer. All he has to do is follow the rules, play the game,
and stay on his toes, and within a year, he'll be a millionaire
(sorry Regis!). What he doesn't realize is that he'll be selling
securities for companies that don't exist. Will he get out in time
to save his soul and redeem himself for his father, or will he go
down with the ship and drag his father along with him?
"Boiler Room"
is not so much a rip-off of "Wall Street" and "Glengarry Glen Ross"
as it is more like the birthchild of those films. "Wall Street"
came out in 1987 and defined the "greed is good" mentality that
defined the 80's. By contrast, "Glengarry" told the plight of the
working man down to the "whatever it takes" attitude needed to close
the deal. "Boiler Room" takes the best of both films, but it shows
how these young hotshots were seduced merely by playing the game--not
at what the game was all about. In one scene, Seth and his cohorts
are sitting around watching "Wall Street", reciting the dialogue
word-for-word. In another scene, Seth is asked if he'd ever seen
"Glengarry" to understand what it means to "always be closing".
It's all intoxicating, but as Seth finally learns, it's all for
nothing.
Giovanni Ribisi
is no Matt Damon, but considering it's his first headlining role,
he does just fine. He portrays Seth as a survivor, although his
methods of survival may leave a lot to be desired. The story builds
to a fever pitch, and he realizes that everything he has done has
been in an effort to please his father (played with unforgiving
coldness by Ron Rifkin). Ribisi's breakdown is intense and devastating,
but at least it snaps him back into reality so he can do the right
thing.
As for the impressive
supporting players, Nicky Katt plays Ribisi's mentor with vicious
envy. He's jealous of Ribisi's ambitions, particularly when it comes
to his interest in Nia Long, J.T. Marlin's sexpot receptionist.
Vin Diesel plays a scrupulous and intimidating power broker, but
he shows a shred of reason beneath his cool and cocky exterior.
Then there's Ben Affleck, who shows up from time to time as J.T.
Marlin's arrogant job recruiter. He's basically playing the same
role that Alec Baldwin made famous in "Glengarry Glen Ross", but
he makes the role his own and bursts with energy and charisma. However,
considering his brief amount of screen time, he probably didn't
work on the film for more than a day.
This is nothing
that we haven't seen before, but then again, neither was "Three
Kings". That film was basically "Kelly's Heroes" set against the
backdrop of the Gulf War, but that's OK. Like that film, "Boiler
Room" takes a fresh approach that keeps you connected to the story
and the characters. It moves along at such an even pace that the
time flies by. A watched pot may never boil, but this is one film
that boils over the rim with high intensity until it finally reaches
its inevitable conclusion.
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