If anyone had told me six months ago that I'd really enjoy a film about greed and intrigue on the dark side of the New York Stock Exchange, I probably wouldn't have believed them, but The Boiler Room is simply an extrememly engrossing film.
Fast paced and focussed, The Boiler Room drags us into the world of college drop out, Seth Davis (Giovanni Rubisi), who, at the bequest of his terminally disapproving father, closes down his illegal backroom casino to and seeks a 'straight job' on the New York Stock Exchange. Davis consequently finds himself a job at Long Island brokerage firm JT Marlin as a trainee broker. Davis is soon taught how to
sell investors on their dreams, and essentially, their own greed. As he observes the riches of the new economy being reaped all around him, Davis slowly finds himself lulled into a world of big money, which is ultimately based on a foundation of questionable integrity.
One of this film's most interesting sub-plots is its exploration of the relationship between fathers and sons. In this film, that interplay reveals to us a father who is deeply constrained by his own formality and feelings of social responsibility, and a son whose desire for the smallest display of approval from his father is boundless. The scenes between the two are often harrowing, and made it patently obvious what a truly fine actor Giovanni Rubisi is. So often confined to supporting roles in independent films, Rubisi truly shone as this film's lead actor, particularly in its more turbulent emotional scenes. If there isn't a film that has made a strong name for Rubisi by now, then this should be that film.
The Boiler Room is the first feature length film of writer/director Ben Younger, who on the basis of this, is definitely a film maker to watch out for in the future.
Recommended.
Vanessa Long
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