Boiler Room (DVD)

by Brian.

There are genre pictures and there are star vehicles and there are summer blockbusters and indie flicks and Oscar contenders. Boiler Room is none of these. What Boiler Room is, and is quite nicely I might add, is a niche film. Good ol' boys and old maids will not like Boiler Room, nor should they; for Boiler Room is a film for people my age interested in what more and more people my age are interested in: money, music, and the stock market.

That's not to say that this is all that Boiler Room is about, for the most personal aspects of this film: Giovanni Ribisi's relationship with his father, his struggle between being successful and doing the right thing, and his realization that there is no express elevator in the stairway of life, have nothing to do with any of the aforementioned items. However, the weaving of these more personal issues with undeniably charismatic young characters with way too much money, a perfect score, and the interesting setting of the stockbroker make this film quite enjoyable. I say this is a niche film because the salesman drama isn't quite large enough to be considered genre, especially since this film directly mentions its two major predecessors (Glengarry Glen Ross and Wall Street). This is a double-edged blade, for people who connect and understand this film will most likely love it very much (a la Office Space), whereas people with no basis of understanding on the specificity of the subject matter will most likely lose interest. This is not your father's stock market movie. To that I say it's their misfortune.

There is quite often a mark of personality and individuality left on the work of a writer-director, in that he has more comprehension and understanding of what he's trying to bring across on screen. Since the days of Preston Sturges I feel most will agree that being the writer as well as the director (or vice versa) helps to define "your" movie in a much more visible way. In the case of Ben Younger, although I do admit that I found a few scenes somewhat flat, I cannot say that I wouldn't be happy with this film, were it my own first feature-length achievement. The strength of the story, balanced quite well with good performances and even pace make this film a success.

Something must be said about the music in this film. Both the source and the score underline the film so well, in such a distinct tone that enhances the film beyond that which could be achieved otherwise. The hip-hop music and The Angel's score gives the film a freshness, a youthful vigor, that any "established" composer would be unable to create with their formulaic and tired technique. I really hope Angel continues to make such exciting new music for films in the future, for I feel there's a growing need both in audiences and in film itself to hear something different.

As far as the DVD is concerned, I find it hard to believe that this isn't a special edition, considering many other packages that cost twice as much yield half as much special content. With two commentary tracks, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and the script included, it's hard not to convince yourself to spend the fifteen bucks and pick this disc up. This is truly a rich Pinot Noir, not for everyone but heaven for some.

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