while watching boiler room , i was constantly reminded of last year 's masterpiece fight club .
both films consist of a predominately male cast .
both films follow young men as they illicitly fight the traditional system for their own desires .
and both films are seen through the eyes of one narrator , who eventually realizes that these men have to be stopped .
while boiler room writer / director ben younger does not get his point across as well as david fincher does for fight club , he does contribute another impressive work to a series of films aiming to represent the new generation .
a generation which has seen the internet prosper and where everyone wants to be a millionaire .
paying homage to oliver stone 's 1987 classic wall street , younger is almost modernizing the tale by using younger , hipper actors to play the greedy villains as opposed to the older , more experienced types .
as is true in real life , younger minds are becoming richer and richer from their knowledge of more standard technology .
boiler room dismisses the notion of ingenuity and shows that greed and desire for power come in all ages .
another similarity with fight club is that both films are not action flicks .
some people are convinced that an all - male cast automatically means there must be gory violence , here is proof that this is not true . if you want to see an action movie starring ben affleck , go see reindeer games this weekend . if you want to see a smart , insightful film with excellent acting and a clever script , see boiler room .
giovanni ribisi gives an outstanding performance as the film 's narrator , seth .
after dropping out of college and running a lucrative gambling center for college students in his apartment , seth is offered a high paying job by a wealthy man ( nicky katt ) .
he agrees to take the job ( in which you are guaranteed to become a millionaire within three years ) of selling stock to well - off americans from the mid - west over the telephone and begins to fit in quite well with his co - workers .
learning tricky techniques to deceive innocent people into buying shares of a good in production , seth figures this is too good to be true .
after stumbling into a room at the wrong time , he knows there is something no good about this company .
at this point , seth is left with the ultimate choice ; continue with the american dream and make millions or tell the authorities that something fishy is going on .
ribisi is believable as seth especially when he shares scenes with ron rifkin , playing seth 's dad .
the two have perfect chemistry as a troubled father and son trying to impress each other and simultaneously impress themselves .
the transitions from anger to sympathy that these scenes contain
are the standout segments of the entire film .
the supporting cast of greedy co - workers is also flawless .
ben affleck shines in a short but sweet performance as a recruiter for the company , nicky katt is fabulous
as the ostensibly friendly boss who eventually becomes extremely jealous of seth , and vin diesel gives his best performance of his career as the foil character of nicky katt .
the energy of the cast as a whole makes boiler room
well paced and never boring .
the only major error in the film is that nothing major happens .
there is no big plot twist or climatic point to make the film more memorable .
due to the lack of a major event , boiler room never finds a suitable genre to fit into .
the movie is not intense enough to be a thriller , the romantic segments involving seth and abby ( nia long ) are not properly finalized , and the dialogue is n't funny enough to make it a comedy .
in having trouble to characterize the movie as a whole , boiler room is slightly confused at times .
it does n't seem to know which category to fit itself into .
one satisfying concluding scene could have changed the whole film for the better .
otherwise , the movie is fun to watch thanks to its lively cast of young actors .
a smart , insightful film with excellent acting and a clever script fabulous another impressive work the two have perfect chemistry is also flawless the movie is fun to watch thanks to its lively cast gives an outstanding performance well paced and never boring a short but sweet are the standout segments of the entire film gives his best performance of his career