The directorial debut of filmmaker Ben Younger, Boiler Room (2000) is a stylishly rendered drama that is perhaps overly indebted to several previous films, most notably the "greed is good" philosophy of Wall Street (1987). Although Younger acknowledges his inspiration with a scene paying homage to Oliver Stone's anti-corporate treatise, Boiler Room is more of a Generation-X imitation than a serious reconsideration of the same subject matter. Nevertheless, Younger creates some memorable visuals, and extracts excellent performances from a talented cast, notably character actor Giovanni Ribisi, who successfully carries a film as a leading man for the first time. Unfolding like an anti-Horatio Alger tale, or the sobering flip side of '80s-era "boy makes rich" films like The Secret of My Success (1987) and Cocktail (1988), Boiler Room ends up a well-crafted but overly familiar tale of youthful exuberance and ambition corrupted by big business.
