Synopsis

A college dropout running an illegal casino in his apartment accepts a job at a prestigious-looking brokerage firm, hoping to win his father's approval. He quickly embraces the money, status, and aggressive sales culture, only to discover that the company is operating a fraudulent stock scheme. As the consequences become personal, he must choose between protecting his new life and exposing the business.

Factoids & Trivia

• Writer Ben Younger conceived the film after interviewing for a job at a Long Island brokerage firm. He reportedly recognized the operation as a pyramid scheme and saw the basis for a movie in its young, highly motivated employees.

• Boiler Room was Younger's feature-film writing and directing debut.

• The film draws openly on earlier movies about ruthless ambition and salesmanship, particularly Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross. The brokers even watch and recite dialogue from Wall Street during one scene.

• The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2000, before New Line Cinema released it theatrically in the United States on February 18, 2000.

• The electronic score was created by The Angel. A soundtrack album, issued by New Line Records on July 18, 2000, combined short score cues with full-length tracks including "Destiny Complete" and "Act As If."

• The fictional brokerage's "boiler room" environment reflects the era's aggressive cold-calling culture, where employees were trained to create urgency and sell speculative investments to strangers over the phone.