# Boiler Room (film)
**Boiler Room** is a 2000 American crime drama film written and directed by Ben Younger, his first feature, about a college dropout who takes a job at a [Long Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-island) brokerage firm running a pump-and-dump (inflating a stock's price with hype, then selling out) stock scam. It stars Giovanni Ribisi as Seth Davis, with [Vin Diesel](https://www.edgepedia.org/vin-diesel), Nia Long, Ben Affleck, Ron Rifkin, Scott Caan, Nicky Katt, Jamie Kennedy, and [Tom Everett Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-everett-scott).[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/) • [2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/boiler-room) New Line Cinema released it theatrically on February 18, 2000.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Ben Younger, his debut feature[3](https://www.avclub.com/boiler-room-1798192294) |
| Release | February 18, 2000 (theatrical); July 11, 2000 (DVD)[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/) • [4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/boiler-room/7133/where-to-watch/) |
| Runtime and rating | 2 hours, rated R; genres crime, drama, thriller[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/) |
| Production | New Line Cinema and Team Todd[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/) |
| Opening weekend | $6.7 million[5](https://shrewdies.com/blog/leoglossary/leoglossary-boiler-room-film) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 63 from 34 critic reviews: 20 positive, 12 mixed, 2 negative[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/critic-reviews/) |
| Awards | Deauville Film Festival, 1 win and 2 nominations; Independent Spirit Awards, 2 nominations; Teen Choice Awards, 2 nominations[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Seth Davis is a 19-year-old college dropout running an illegal casino out of his apartment. Pressured by his father, a federal judge ([Ron Rifkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-rifkin)), to find legitimate work, he takes a job at J.T. Marlin, a Long Island brokerage house where young brokers make cold calls to potential investors for high commissions.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/boiler-room) • [7](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2000/2/18/hot-under-the-white-collar-piboiler/) • [3](https://www.avclub.com/boiler-room-1798192294)
The firm recruits money-hungry twenty-somethings who want nothing but money, and Seth is quickly transformed into a smooth-talking seller. What puzzles him are the signs around him: commissions that are unusually high and colleagues who become millionaires in a very short time. He eventually discovers that J.T. Marlin runs an illegal stock-trading operation, a pump-and-dump scam under investigation, and he faces police scrutiny and difficult conversations with his father as the truth emerges.[7](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2000/2/18/hot-under-the-white-collar-piboiler/) • [8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/boiler-room) • [2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/boiler-room)
## Reception
**Critics.** The film scored 63 on Metacritic, labeled "Generally Favorable," based on 34 reviews, of which 20 were positive, 12 mixed, and 2 negative.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/critic-reviews/) Roger Ebert of the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) gave it 88 and wrote that it "has the high-octane feel of real life, closely observed."[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/critic-reviews/) The New York Times review called it "a cunningly ambiguous act of self-portraiture" reflecting the sensibility of the generation it scrutinizes.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/critic-reviews/) More mixed notices included Variety's judgment that it "begins extremely well as a saga of greed and conspicuous consumption, but gradually loses its bite," and the Boston Globe's "derivative and flawed. But it does throw off a few sparks."[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/)
**Comparisons.** Reviewers drew comparisons to [Oliver Stone](https://www.edgepedia.org/oliver-stone)'s 1987 film *[Wall Street](https://www.edgepedia.org/wall-street-1987-film)*: both deal with the shadier aspects of trading and both came out of a soaring economy in which everyone seemed capable of striking it rich. Younger's film invites the comparison and then plays with it: the characters unwind by watching *Wall Street* and take turns quoting [Michael Douglas](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-douglas)'s villain line for line.[3](https://www.avclub.com/boiler-room-1798192294) Later commentary has positioned it as a forerunner of *The Wolf of Wall Street* (2013), which covers the same territory of pump-and-dump brokerage fraud; unlike the later film, *Boiler Room* does not glorify the con man at the center of the scam.[9](https://thequickcritic.com/boiler-room-review) • [10](https://hansondoremus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/July-2025.pdf)
## Production notes
The film's depiction of a boiler room, a high-pressure telephone sales operation that sells securities using scripted misrepresentations, drew on real settings: one former stockbroker has written that the movie was filmed at the firm he worked at, Continental Broker Dealer Corp on Long Island.[11](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/boiler-rooms-wolves-wall-street-my-start-sales-long-island-bivona) A Jewish Journal piece on the film notes that Younger wrote dialogue summing up the slippery morality of hotshot young stockbrokers at semi-legitimate brokerage houses on Long Island that sold IPO stock the way telemarketers hawk kitchen knives.[12](https://jewishjournal.com/old_stories/2627/)
## Availability
In the United States the film streams free with ads on Plex and Tubi and on Kanopy, can be rented starting at $3.99, and can be bought digitally starting at $4.99 on platforms including Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango At Home; it is not currently on Netflix.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/boiler-room) • [4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/boiler-room/7133/where-to-watch/)
## References
1. [Boiler Room, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/)
2. [Boiler Room streaming: where to watch movie online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/boiler-room)
3. [Boiler Room, The A.V. Club, Keith Phipps, February 18, 2000](https://www.avclub.com/boiler-room-1798192294)
4. [Boiler Room (2000): Where to Watch, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/boiler-room/7133/where-to-watch/)
5. [LeoGlossary: Boiler Room (Film), Shrewdies](https://shrewdies.com/blog/leoglossary/leoglossary-boiler-room-film)
6. [Boiler Room critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/boiler-room/critic-reviews/)
7. [Hot Under the [White] Collar, The Harvard Crimson, February 18, 2000](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2000/2/18/hot-under-the-white-collar-piboiler/)
8. [Boiler Room, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/boiler-room)
9. [Boiler Room (2000) review, The Quick Critic](https://thequickcritic.com/boiler-room-review)
10. [From Hanson+Doremus, July 2025](https://hansondoremus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/July-2025.pdf)
11. [Boiler Rooms and Wolves of Wall Street: My Start in Sales as a Stockbroker on Long Island, LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/boiler-rooms-wolves-wall-street-my-start-sales-long-island-bivona)
12. [The Heat Is On, Jewish Journal](https://jewishjournal.com/old_stories/2627/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2000–2004 films › Released 2000 to 2002*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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