Reel Deal

By Tara Dempsey and Ryan Leach

Giovanni Ribisi stars as Seth Davis in Boiler Room, which explores the dark side of stock brokerages. Seth is a young, street-smart college dropout who is reeled into the world of JT Marlin, a Long Island brokerage, far from the offices of Wall Street.

Seth becomes a devoted employee of the firm but soon begins to discover that the benefits of his job may be too good to be true. The firm is all about making money and they don't care how they do it.

RYAN'S REVIEWGiovanni! This kid is something special. From Suburbia to Saving Private Ryan to The Other Sister, this guy can act. He covers all ranges and does so very well. He proves this in Boiler Room.

If you like stockbrokers or salesmen type movies, then you'll like this movie. It is a cross between Wall Street and Glengary Glen Ross.

The movie is set at a blistering pace, and you are wrapped up immediately. The two things I didn't like about the film were the soundtrack and the relationship between Ribisi and his team leader Greg.

The soundtrack consisted of a number of rap songs that I thought didn't flow with the movie. I am curious to know what the director was trying to do with the music.

Second, the relationship between the two men seemed irrelevant. During the course of the movie it is okay, but now looking back, it was pointless.

The wonderful acting overshadowed these problems and the supporting actors were very solid in their performances. Leading the way was Vin Diesel, Ben Affleck and Scott Caan from Varsity Blues. This movie wasn't amazing, but it was very solid. B

TARA'S TAKEI was extremely impressed with this movie. This was an excellent feature debut for writer/director Ben Younger, and the ensemble cast did a great job of playing ambitious money-hungry stock brokers.

Ribisi is great in his first starring role and his supporting cast was terrific as well. Jamie Kennedy plays Adam, an old friend of Seth's who tells him about JT Marlin and Ben Affleck, (who does not have a huge amount of screen time). Kennedy had the pivotal role of introducing young recruits to the firm.

Nicky Katt is ruthless as Greg, Seth's greedy mentor and Vin Diesel plays the more compassionate but equally ambitious Chris, who takes Seth under his wing.

Younger was really trying to drive home the point that the relationship between Seth and his father was less than perfect in order to give the character some motivation for joining the firm of JT Marlin. It seemed excessive at times, though, because it made it look like Seth's only motivation in doing anything was too impress his father.

The most entertaining part of the film is watching the brokers trick their customers into investing with smooth talking and flat out lies. These 20-somethings tell their clients they are married with four kids just to make themselves seem trustworthy. The scenes at JT Marlin are packed with adrenaline as phones are constantly ringing and sales are being made to unsuspecting clients.

Taylor Nichols has the endearing yet unfortunate role of becoming a victim of Seth's ambition, as he plays Harry, a family man who chooses to invest because it is what's best for his family.I found this movie highly entertaining. The greatest parts are when the brokers are in action, calling up clients and doing everything in their power to get them to buy stock. It's a great rush. B+