In the opening moments of "Boiler Room," written and directed by newcomer Ben Younger, the voice of the protagonist explains why he is particularly influenced by the lyrics of the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. After all, he says, stockbrokers are the white boys' crack dealers. It's a contrived moment, but effective nonetheless. Much like the movie itself.
The man behind the voice is Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi), a college dropout who runs a successful underground casino in his New York neighborhood. He's making good money there, but his illegal dealings are a disgrace to his father, who is a judge (oh, the irony).
So when a representative from the not-so-subtly-named J.T. Marlin firm offers him a job, Seth can't resist the promise of a quick million and the chance to impress his dad. But as Seth soon learns, there's no such thing as easy money - at least, not if you have a conscience.
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J.T. Marlin is a sea of nondescript white males. Younger builds the male peer-support dynamic competently in a series of scenes in which we witness a group of wide-eyed trainees develop into unscrupulous yuppies under the tutelage of the head recruiter, played with mischievous energy by Ben Affleck.
The consequences of this pervasive machismo are most evident in the relationship between Seth and his father (Ron Rifkin). In a culture that associates the male role in the family with that of the breadwinner and little else, there's not much room for warmth or emotion in this father-son dynamic. And so it's a vicious cycle - Seth gets involved in the firm to earn the respect of his father, but ends up alienating himself even further.
This is just one of the strengths of the script, which, on the whole, was written with an impressive complexity. But Younger, like many green filmmakers, seems to underestimate both his audience and his own abilities.
The relationship between Seth and his father is a prime example. To make sure we get the point that Seth just wants the love of his hardened father, Younger has Seth reveal a formative childhood memory early on, and then refer to it repeatedly throughout the movie. What he doesn't realize is that the skill with which Ribisi and Rifkin play their scenes renders such explicit devices unnecessary and causes them to detract from the real emotion of the film.
In addition, the racial tension at J.T. Marlin is depicted in a shallow, overt manner - the characters use the n-word and other degrading ethnic epithets at every possible opportunity.
Nia Long seems embarrassed by her character, a stereotypically sassy black secretary. We can hardly blame her, since one gets the feeling that her relationship with Seth - her entire role - is included solely (and needlessly) to set Seth apart from his bigoted colleagues.
Ribisi, adequately charming in the lead role, is at his best in his precarious interaction with the other brokers and at his worst in the obligatory, but still awkward, love scenes with Long.
Despite the kinks in his machine, there are clearly moments when Younger is willing to give himself over to the subtleties of the film, and here it is most potent. A scene where Seth gets a sales call from the Daily News and critiques the salesman's pitch effectively sums up Seth's growing enthusiasm and egotism as a result of his work at the firm.
When Younger trusts his script and his actors to tell a compelling story of greed, prejudice and moral corruption, he succeeds. But when he loses faith in his film, we can't help but do the same.
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