Boiler Room 2000

Roger Ebert, At the Movies: During the movie I was wound up with tension and involvement. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: You won't find a movie that taps more directly into the jugular of the greed-fueled late '90s. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: A shallow script that never gets at the heart or conflict behind the swagger. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Boiler Room reflects the sensibility of the generation it holds up to critical scrutiny, and it's a cunningly ambiguous act of self-portraiture. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Writer-director Ben Younger experienced the sales pitch of a boiler room recruiter in real life. His fascination with the thrill-junkie life of these stock jocks is reflected in the script's sharp, arrogant dialogue. Read more

Eric Harrison, Los Angeles Times: The movie draws from the works that preceded it, then takes to the street with a too-cool hip-hop strut. Read more

Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle: Boiler Room is a new film that will yank anyone who's ever gotten a cold call from a chop shop. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: A fast and funny look at a world where 'greed is good' has become the only reality in town. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: To put the movie in sales terms, after a good opening pitch, Younger fails to close the deal. The audience can't buy in. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: Younger draws a lot from David Mamet in his depictions of this seller's hothouse, but he does it with a twist: The salesmen here are fully conscious of being Mamet-y; their bible is Alec Baldwin's big, win-at-all-costs speech from...Glengarry Glen Ross. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A compelling movie-going experience. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: In moviemaking, as in cold-calling, sometimes conviction is almost enough. Read more

Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle: Boiler's adrenaline rush film creates an elaborate stock scam. Read more

Time Out: Turns of dialogue ring compellingly true, and the well chosen cast (especially Ribisi) carry the inflections of the drama with some style. Read more

Emanuel Levy, Variety: Last reel is particularly disappointing in its naive philosophy, manifest in Younger's rush to bring the various conflicts to satisfying closure. Read more

Amy Taubin, Village Voice: Although the plotting gets a bit predictable toward the end, the script is intelligent and boldly written throughout. Read more