Boiler Room is an American crime dram film about a stock brokerage firm that engaged in shady tactics.
The film starred Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Ben Affleck, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott, Ron Rifkin, and Jamie Kennedy.
Plot
Seth Davis (Ribisi) is a college drop out who runs an illegal casino operation out of his apartment. His dad is a federal judge who is disappointed to learn that Seth dropped out. The under performing son ends up meeting Greg Weinstein (Katt) through his cousin. Both visit the casino one night.
Weinstein works for a brokerage firm out on Long Island with the promise of great wealth.
The firm, J.T. Marlin, engages in the business of cold calling potential investors and selling them penny stocks over the phone. These engage in high pressure sales tactics.
Seth enters the firm by going to a group interview where the expectations are laid out. The entire premise is money, lots of it. The interview speaks of becoming a millionaire within 3 years of starting at J.T. Marlin.
Being recruited by Weinstein means Seth works under him, being a trainee until he closes 40 accounts and passes the Series 7 exam.
Having a legitimate job uplifts Seth in the eyes of his father, at least initially. He starts to make some money, giving the appearance of legitimacy.
For a short time, Seth buys into the propaganda the firm is selling him. The inquisitive nature that he has ends up bursting the illusion. It start with the outrageously high commissions that are paid to the brokers on certain trades. Seth learns this is possible because the stocks are really pump and dump schemes. The firms owner, Michael Brantley, along with the firm own the stock before they start to push the sale. As the brokers promote it, the price moves higher. As this happens, the insider is selling the shares on the way up.
Eventually the stock collapses, leaving investors with massive losses.
Once Seth passes his exam, he contracts Harry Reynard on a cold call. He convinces Harry to invest in one of the firm's schemes, only to see the stock price drop. When Harry contracts Seth about this, he is coaxed into buying more, a move that costs his family's savings.
The authorities were investigating J.T. Marlin. Seth continued his inquiries only to discover Brantley was planning on moving operations, had files destroyed, and was going to pull the plug on the operations. This means investors would have little recourse.
Seth resolves to bring the firm down. In doing so, he enlists his father's help, after admitting to how he was motivated to make the family proud and go himself involved in something that was a chop shop. Through an IPO scheme, Seth tried to get his dad to help him to get even.
After initially declining, Judge Davis agreed to participate. Unfortunately, the phone conversation between them was recorded, a fact that Seth learned after he was picked up by the FBI. When he was brought into custody, his dad was already being held.
To gain his dad's freedom, and protect his judgeship, Seth cut a deal. He agreed to testify when things went to trial.
Entering work the next day, Davis has to copy company files on a floppy disc. In his last act, he gets Brantley to agree to give Harry Reynard a slice of the new IPO claiming he is a whale and the company would lost a lot of money if he walked. The only contingency is that Reynard cannot sell the shares until the firm does.
To sell, Seth needs the signature of a senior broker. Greg would never sign a sell ticket so he goes to Chris Varick (Diesel). After revealing to Varick that it is over and the FBI is going to close the firm, Chris signs the ticket.
The last scene in the film is Seth walking out to his car with the FBI vans showing up to arrest everyone.
Cast
Giovanni Ribisi as Seth Davis
Vin Diesel as Chris Varick
Nia Long as Abbie Halprin
Nicky Katt as Greg Weinstein
Scott Caan as Richie O'Flaherty
Ron Rifkin as Judge Marty Davis
Jamie Kennedy as Adam
Taylor Nichols as Harry Reynard
Bill Sage as FBI Agent David Drew
Tom Everett Scott as Michael Brantley
Ben Affleck as Jim Young
John Griesemer as The Concierge
David Younger as Marc
Russell Harper as Kid
Mark Webber as Kid
Christopher Fitzgerald as Kid
Donna Mitchell as Mrs. Davis
André Vippolis as Neil
Jon Abrahams as Jeff
Will McCormack as Mike
Jared Ryan as Steve "Casino Steve"
Anson Mount as Broker
Kirk Acevedo as Broker
Seth Ullian as Broker
Eddie Malavarca as Broker
Lisa Gerstein as Sheryl
Ross Ryman as Isaac
Peter Maloney as Dr. Jacobs
Mark Moshe Bellows as John Fineman
Alex Webb as FBI Director
Daniel Serafini-Sauli as Steve, The Broker
Taylor Patterson as Sara Reynard
Michael McCarthy as Max Reynard
Marsha Dietlein as Susan Reynard
Siobhan Fallon as Michelle
Box Office
The film opened in February 2000 and grossed $6.7 million its opening weekend. Globally, the take at the box office was $28.8 million.
Gordon Gecko
More than a dead after Wall Street, the film made reference to Michael Douglas' character Gordon Gecko. The brokers love to toss around quotes made by Gecko.
Boiler Room Operations
The film did tell the story of boiler room operations in the financial world. These businesses are often set up to handle the promotion for securities or other business investments. The relationship between the entity and what is being promoted is not disclosed.