Review of Boiler Room (2000) by Elizabeth C — 19 Jun 2009

I enjoyed this, inspite of not really knowing what the makers were trying to acheive. Is it supposed to be a commentary on greed or a story of a man fighting to win his father's respect? The two elements jostle with each other throughout the film without ever gelling to make a coherent story.

Obvious comparisons are Glengarry glen ross and Wall Street. There are a couple of scenes where these films are name checked, in particular a bizarre scene with Affleck (who gets to do his own Baldwin speech) Vin, Scott Caan and Nicky Katt where they are watching Wall Street reciting the dialogue from the film between them. It's very amusing to watch, but I have to say reciting dialogue frm another film that is directly influencing the one you are making does not disguise the fact that they have taken all of the main plots and themes from that film and basically copied them. It's pretty lazy.

Having said that, a lot of my enjoyment came from the casting. Giovanni is on good form and Affleck and Vin seem to be having a good time which is quite infectious.

Overall, this is very watchable but it's been done before. One thing that is clear is that Ben Younger is no Mamet....