Movie Review: Boiler Room Story: The story is about nothing that I have any interest in - young bucks out for money, big cars, big houses, more toys, testosterone run amok, greed and avarice with no moral compass - and yet - I was thoroughly entertained. Go figure! It is about young Seth Davis, who has all kinds of Jewish family guilt about dropping out of college and starting an illegal casino out of his house. He tries to go straight to please his father, the judge, and becomes a stock broker. Unfortunately, the brokerage he picks is a chop house wrought with corruption, greedy money hungry outside the law young men. We get the rise, the fall and the redemption of young Seth. Nothing is really new and much of the film has been 'appropriated', borrowed, is derivative and plainly copied from other movies of the same theme, but first time writer-director Ben Younger does a brilliant job. I look forward to his future films. He is a good story teller. Oh yes........there is a narrator, but it isn't that annoying. Acting: Young Giovanni Ribisi (SubUrbia, Saving Private Ryan and Phoebe's brother on Friends) is terrific most of the time. He is angular, ethnic (though clearly not Jewish to me), pale and emotional. Occasionally he gets a hangdog, drooly look but he is going to have a long interesting career. Ben Affleck (in a small part) is more than adequate and actually looks mature compared to the rest of the cast. Nicky Katt (who I adored in The Limey, one of my top 10 for '99) is almost unrecognizable, but terrific as Ribisi's mentor. Vin Diesel is also terrific and very interesting to look at. The entire cast is vivid and on target. Pets: None Visual Art: Some really bad art Soundtrack: Appropriate rap music Quirky Meter: 4 Oscar Worthy: Ribisi could have a long shot here, but it is very early in the year. Length: A perfect 110 minutes LOBO HOWLS: 8