BOILER ROOM
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: This updating of WALL STREET is a
small education on how stock trading works at a
shady brokerage house. It is difficult to make a
subject as technical as stock trading interesting
and sufficiently cinematic, but writer-director Ben
Younger makes it work here. However, beyond the
interesting technical aspects of the story there is
not a whole lot of plot here. Though there is an
engaging father-son story that was begging to be
further expanded. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), low +2 (-4
to +4)
Who wants to be a millionaire? Almost everyone wants to be rich and most people do not want to really have to work for it. At least that is the point of view presented to Seth (Giovanni Ribisi) when he interviews at brokerage house J. T. Marlin. Seth is something of a disappointment to his father (Ron Rifkin), a Federal Judge. At about the age of 18 Seth has quit school and is running an illegal casino out of his apartment. One of Seth's customers recruits him to interview at brokerage house J. T. Marlin where the cash flow is even better--a lot better. Seth finds that the offered interview is not to sell himself to the firm, but more to sell him on the idea of working for the Marlin. And the package seems almost too good to be true. Give the firm three years of very hard work and they will nearly guarantee to make him a millionaire. Who could resist a deal like that?
Jim Young (Ben Affleck) tells the recruits he himself is 27, which is almost over the hill in that business. It is the young people who are the big traders. And the financial rewards are terrific. Seth sees a chance to be successful and show his father that he has worth. Almost immediately it seems to be a Faustian bargain. As Seth is pulled deeper into this world he makes a visual transition. Younger puts him in darker clothing. Dark suits, dark shirts, even his eyes seem to darken. He begins to look like almost gothic or vampirish. In a less than subtle manner Younger seems to be suggesting that the life is being slowly sucked from him.
Younger shows us the world of these young kids thrown into the world of finance. In their expensive suits and with their expensive cars they give the appearance of respectability and of having class. Yet over and over Younger makes the point that these are children, and vulgar ones at that, who do not know what to do with their money. They know the neighborhoods to buy expensive homes but in a look inside one the house seems almost unfurnished except with a few technical toys. There is almost nothing soft in the house. Almost everything is plastic and electronic. When the dealers go out to bars they behave little better than teenage gangs. They live an existence of well- rewarded banality and conspicuous and ill-considered consumption.
In order to make the point that the illegal trading is not a victimless crime we also see a subplot of one investor who is hurt by the illicit trading. Still, by concentrating too much on the one investor the film blunts the point that there are many investors damaged by the shady firm. The drama works best in the subplot of the relation between Seth and his father. It is in this relationship that the film has its most moving moments.
The film borrows heavily from both WALL STREET and GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, but it also works both films into the plot. Ben Affleck is not only a young model of the ruthless Alec Baldwin character from GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, he also quotes him. Not only is the plot borrowed from WALL STREET, it also is the traders' favorite film. The film also works in a romance that seems gratuitous, but just adds one more ingredient to the mix.
The music seems mostly gangsta rock. This combines with the jerky editing to give a sort of new wave feel. The score did not do a lot for me but underscore the disorientation of dropping into the new world of brokerage. (Odd trivia point: I am not sure of the symbolism, but the opening chords of the closing credit music are borrowed directly from a recording of the score for GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1964).)
The film is at its best at what should be the hardest task, interesting the audience in the finances and the trading and at the same time being educational. I rate it a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 2000 Mark R. Leeper
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