"Boiler Room" from 2000 is a very good film featuring some young, up and coming talent including Ben Affleck, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Scott Caan, Jamie Kennedy, Will McCormack, and Christopher Fitzgerald. Ron Rifkin has a showy role as Ribisi's father.

It's interesting that several compared this film to "Wall Street" and "Glengarry Glen Ross" - certainly the comparisons are valid - but someone mentioned a real-life comparison, to the Enron situation. The documentary I saw was "Enron The Smartest Guys in the Room" and I think that's an apt comparison as well.

The plot concerns a young man, Seth Davis, who makes money running a backroom casino. His father is a federal judge and the two men are distanced from one another, his father making it clear that he doesn't approve.

One night, a man comes into the casino and suggests a stockbroker job for Seth with a boutique company. Seth becomes a trainee there, and comes up against heavy competition and ruthless bosses and managers, one of whom is played by Ben Affleck and another played by Nicky Katt. He temporarily wins his father's approval as he learns how to "always be closing" with every phone call, and the art of the deal. There's just one problem - there's something a little odd about the place, and Seth can't put his finger on it. What he doesn't realize is that the business is under investigation, and the Feds have targeted someone close to Seth for information.

Interesting film and very well acted. What's scary is, this type of thing worked with Enron so I wouldn't say it's unrealistic. Greed is greed, be it in stockbrokers, corporations, or stock owners.

I felt like others, let down by the ending. I could have used another five minutes to wrap it up better.

SPOILER HERE: STOP IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE ***

Did anyone else think Seth's father set him up? Not out of anger or cruelty, but to get him out of the situation and help to bring this place down. I found it hard to believe that as a Federal judge he would go along with this IPO and say, on the phone, that he wanted to help Seth so he "wouldn't get caught" - and this is all recorded and played back to him when Seth is brought in. The Feds banked on Seth spilling his guts in order to save his father. One would think his father would believe it would go the other way and therefore wouldn't have agreed to it, but he must have seen how desperate this kid was for his love and gone along with the Feds. They were threatening to strip him of his position as a judge. Seth's father a couple of scenes earlier wanted nothing to do with Seth because it jeopardized his job.