Boiler Room (film)
Encyclopedia
Boiler Room is a 2000 American drama film
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
.
The film is based partly on the real life experiences of Jordan Belfort
.
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 in a non-descript office building in or near Commack, NY, after Greg Weinstein (Katt) comes to his home to check out Seth's business and offers him a job at the firm. Seth agrees and becomes a trainee under Weinstein.
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 too 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, 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. When Harry calls Seth back asking why the investment has done so poorly, Seth (under coercion from Greg) sells him even more worthless shares, convincing Harry to invest his $50,000 downpayment that he was saving for a family home. Seth promises a smooth process in the investment, however this promise does not live up and causes Harry to be abandoned by his family. Now well aware of the firm's fraudulent and unethical practices, Seth becomes deeply unerved by his work environment and how he has knowingly scammed Harry.
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 too close, etc. Seth is released and instructed by the FBI to return to work the next day, only to gather evidence and leave shortly before 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 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, something that his direct supervisor, Greg, has explicitly said that he would never do. On his way out of the building, Seth leaves Chris a note asking to meet in private, at which point he informs Chris about the raid and convinces him to sign the sale ticket. Chris then hastily gathers a few belongings from his desk and quickly leaves. Seth is then shown leaving 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 prison buses are seen speeding into the parking lot from which FBI agents emerge, ready to raid the building.
release includes an alternate ending. In the alternate ending, after Harry's family leaves him, he goes to the garage and gets a .45 automatic. Seth backs up his hard drive and leaves when the FBI calls. He still drops a note on Chris's desk, but they do not speak in stairwell and he does not sign the sell ticket. Chris packs up and leaves. As Seth is walking out to his car, he bumps into Harry, who is walking towards the office with an overstuffed briefcase. The contents fall out including the handgun's personal storage case. Seth helps Harry (who doesn't know Seth is in front of him, because they never met face to face) gather his things and they part ways. Seth contemplates whether Harry even knows what he looks like.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Ben Younger
Ben Younger
Ben Younger is an American screenwriter and film director.-Early life and career:Younger was born in Brooklyn, and raised in a Modern Orthodox Jewish household in Eltingville, Staten Island. He attended a yeshiva, before entering Queens College, part of the City University of New York, where he...
, and starring Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
, Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...
, Nia Long
Nia Long
Nia Talita Long is an American actress and occasional music video director. She is best known for her roles in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Third Watch, and the films Boiler Room, Soul Food, Love Jones, The Best Man, Big Momma's House, Big Momma's House 2, Are We There...
, Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
, Nicky Katt
Nicky Katt
Nicholas Lea "Nicky" Katt is an American actor known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public.-Career:...
, Scott Caan
Scott Caan
Scott Andrew Caan is an American actor. He stars in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. He is the son of actor James Caan.-Early life:...
, Tom Everett Scott
Tom Everett Scott
Thomas "Tom" Everett Scott is an American film, theatre and television actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film That Thing You Do! .-Career:...
, Ron Rifkin
Ron Rifkin
Ron Rifkin is an American actor. He is best-known for his roles as Arvin Sloane on the spy drama Alias and as Saul Holden on the American family drama Brothers & Sisters.-Personal life:...
and Jamie Kennedy
Jamie Kennedy
James Harvey "Jamie" Kennedy is an American comedian, rapper, and actor.-Early life:Kennedy, the youngest of six children, was born in Upper Darby Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family is of Irish descent and he was raised Roman Catholic. He attended and graduated from...
.
The film is based partly on the real life experiences of Jordan Belfort
Jordan Belfort
Jordan Belfort is an American author, motivational speaker and former white collar criminal who spent 22 months in jail for offences related to stock market manipulation and running a boiler room....
.
Plot
In 1999 Seth Davis (Ribisi), a 19-year-old college dropout who runs an illegal but successful underground casino in his Queens apartment. His father Marty (Rifkin), a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
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
Brokerage firm
A brokerage firm, or simply brokerage or broker in context, is a financial institution that facilitates the buying and selling of financial derivatives between a buyer and a seller...
based in a non-descript office building in or near Commack, NY, after Greg Weinstein (Katt) comes to his home to check out Seth's business and offers him a job at the firm. Seth agrees and becomes a trainee under Weinstein.
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 too 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
Chop shop
In motor vehicle theft, a chop shop is a location or business which disassembles stolen automobiles for the purpose of selling them as parts. It may also be used to refer to a location or business that is involved with the selling of stolen or fraudulent goods in general, an example of the latter...
brokerage firm that runs a "pump and dump
Pump and dump
"Pump and dump" is a form of microcap stock fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price....
", using its brokers to create artificial demand
Artificial demand
Artificial demand constitutes demand for something that, in the absence of exposure to the vehicle of creating demand, would not exist. It has controversial applications in microeconomics and advertising...
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
Penny stock
In the United States, penny stocks are common shares of small public companies that trade at less than $1.00. In some countries, similar shares of stock are known as cent stocks.-Concerns for investors:...
). 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, 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. When Harry calls Seth back asking why the investment has done so poorly, Seth (under coercion from Greg) sells him even more worthless shares, convincing Harry to invest his $50,000 downpayment that he was saving for a family home. Seth promises a smooth process in the investment, however this promise does not live up and causes Harry to be abandoned by his family. Now well aware of the firm's fraudulent and unethical practices, Seth becomes deeply unerved by his work environment and how he has knowingly scammed Harry.
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 too close, etc. Seth is released and instructed by the FBI to return to work the next day, only to gather evidence and leave shortly before 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
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
and hides it away. Before leaving, Seth attempts to get Harry's money back by lying to 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, something that his direct supervisor, Greg, has explicitly said that he would never do. On his way out of the building, Seth leaves Chris a note asking to meet in private, at which point he informs Chris about the raid and convinces him to sign the sale ticket. Chris then hastily gathers a few belongings from his desk and quickly leaves. Seth is then shown leaving 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 prison buses are seen speeding into the parking lot from which FBI agents emerge, ready to raid the building.
Alternate ending
The DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release includes an alternate ending. In the alternate ending, after Harry's family leaves him, he goes to the garage and gets a .45 automatic. Seth backs up his hard drive and leaves when the FBI calls. He still drops a note on Chris's desk, but they do not speak in stairwell and he does not sign the sell ticket. Chris packs up and leaves. As Seth is walking out to his car, he bumps into Harry, who is walking towards the office with an overstuffed briefcase. The contents fall out including the handgun's personal storage case. Seth helps Harry (who doesn't know Seth is in front of him, because they never met face to face) gather his things and they part ways. Seth contemplates whether Harry even knows what he looks like.
Cast
- Giovanni RibisiGiovanni RibisiGiovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
as Seth Davis, a 19-year-old college dropout who runs an illegal casino inside his apartment. - Vin DieselVin DieselVin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...
as Chris Varick, one of Seth's close friends in the firm, and a senior broker. - Nia LongNia LongNia Talita Long is an American actress and occasional music video director. She is best known for her roles in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Third Watch, and the films Boiler Room, Soul Food, Love Jones, The Best Man, Big Momma's House, Big Momma's House 2, Are We There...
as Abbie Halpert, Seth's girlfriend and a secretary at the firm. - Nicky KattNicky KattNicholas Lea "Nicky" Katt is an American actor known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public.-Career:...
as Greg Weinstein, one of the senior brokers at the firm and also Seth's boss. - Ron RifkinRon RifkinRon Rifkin is an American actor. He is best-known for his roles as Arvin Sloane on the spy drama Alias and as Saul Holden on the American family drama Brothers & Sisters.-Personal life:...
as Judge Marty Davis, Seth's father, a ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
federal judge. - Ben AffleckBen AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
as Jim Young, one of the senior brokers and head of HR at J.T. Marlin. - Tom Everett ScottTom Everett ScottThomas "Tom" Everett Scott is an American film, theatre and television actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film That Thing You Do! .-Career:...
as Michael Brantley, CEO and owner of the firm. - Scott CaanScott CaanScott Andrew Caan is an American actor. He stars in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. He is the son of actor James Caan.-Early life:...
as Richie O'Flaherty, a successful senior broker.