Boiler Room

This beady-eyed morality play is set in the hothouse environment of an illicit share-ramping operation, which 19-year-old numbers whizz Seth Davis (Ribisi) takes to the NY stockbroking firm JT Marlin after his father, a stern judge, shuts down his home gambling den. JT Marlin is a quicksilver enterprise founded on the get-rich-quick dreams of its customers and recruits alike. Everyone can become a millionaire here, Affleck's recruiting officer tells the new intake, 'the only question is how many times over.' Of course, other questions arise: Seth's secret affair with his boss's ex, company secretary Abbie (Long); his dad's continuing stern attentions; the customers fleeced of their life savings; and the attentions of the FBI. Not all of this works - the Oedipal angst of Seth's relationship with his dad is unnecessary and close to unbearable - but enough's credible and thought through to mark the film as a praiseworthy and auspicious achievement for first time writer/director Younger. Turns of dialogue ring compellingly true, and the well chosen cast (especially Ribisi) carry the inflections of the drama with some style.