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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite bubbling..., 21 Dec 2005
I enjoyed the movie The Boiler Room. I found the storyline interesting, if a bit beyond believability (but then, when I think of my friend's lives, if they were presented on screen, most likely they would not be believable, either). The milieu of the stock trading floor is wonderfully portrayed, and it isn't until well into the film that one realises that this is not, in fact, a `legitimate' stock brokerage, but rather, a `chop shop' in which dummy corporations issue public stock for the purpose of building capital which can then be kept as the stock value plummets. This is a film that fits the genre of not-quite-so-bad-guy-turns-good; the characterisations are fairly typical (mother, father, co-workers, etc.)-there is nothing really new here. There is an almost-happy ending, with the now-reformed good guy getting away just as the cavalry (in this case, the FBI) arrives to seize the bad guys. A fairly uni-dimensional film, do not go looking for deep insights or grand issues, or even great characters. But, it is a basic good story, something to give you an insight into trading floor personalities and the frenetic pace of activity that surrounds a high-powered brokerage. I must confess I did not like the soundtrack; in fact, I found it intrusive and irritating. It was designed, I'm sure, to accentuate the trading floor/lifestyle pace and hard-hitting nature of the business world. I guess there is a reason why I'm not a stock broker; of course, the stock brokers I know prefer Brahms and Mozart. Still, in all, I enjoyed this film. I can't say too much about, and am not quite sure why my overall opinion is one of enjoyment when there is so little explicitly redeeming about this film. I did, however, find Ben Afleck's bits in the film very interesting, particularly the job interview scene. I think I've interviewed at places like that before (except no one was telling me I would be a millionaire in three years).
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