Boiler Room is the story of Seth Davis, a young college drop-out, who is ambitious and hard-working. He runs an underground casino out of his off-campus apartment, when he is offered a position at an ‘off Wall Street’ stock brokerage firm that assures him he will be making a million dollars even before he finishes his third year with them. Seth slowly learns that things at work are not what they seem to be, and that the firm was a financial `chop shop’ which was willing to rip off (or was targetting!) common people just looking for good investments. Seth finds himself working for a firm which is being investigated by the Feds for violation of Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations. In the end, Seth makes some good decisions which helps him do the right thing.
The movie has a great message for today’s young people, many of who are willing to do anything to make a quick buck. But what I admired most about the movie was its treatment of Seth’s relationship with his father, a honest federal judge who loves his son and wants him to do something good with his life.
