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10A
Friday, February 25, 2000
Deceptive world of stock trading isn't enough to make Boiler Room sizzle
W within the slick, fast-paced world of stock brokers in New York City, where one phone call could mean millions of dollars, there's no time for details.
Like honesty.
Such is the scenario in director Ben Younger's Boiler Room, which reveals the intense, adrenalized realm of a small brokerage firm, J.T. Marlin, and the young men who make fortunes there selling lies.
We enter this world through Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi), a 20-something college dropout running an illegal casino out of his living room. Attracted to this sort of entrepreneurship and always looking for young brokers to train, the boys from J.T. come knocking. Eager to land a job that would make his father, a federal judge played by Ron Rifkin, proud, Seth joins the firm.
Enter Jim Young (Ben Affleck) to entice these rookies to the cash cow that is brokering at their initial group "interview." He promises that each man will make his first million within three years of his first day. He manages this by employing the same smooth talk to entice them into the firm as he would a customer on the phone.
Resistance is futile.
"Anyone who says money can't buy happiness, doesn't have any." Young maintains. "Look at the smile on my face — ear to ear." Resilience is futile.
From here, Seth outdoes himself as a trainee and quickly becomes absorbed in his new success. So absorbed, he overlooks the fact that this firm isn't like the big boys on Wall Street. At J.T. Marlin, it doesn't matter what stock you sell, you just have to know your ABCs — "Always
Boiler Room
Acting: B+
Writing: B-
Cinematography: B-
Sound: C+
Overall: B-
Showing at Southwind 12, 3433 Iowa St.
Be Closing
They'll sell stocks for companies that don't even exist. They tell people exactly what they want to hear and have a rebuttal for every protest. They want your money, and they know exactly how to get it.
But one client, who isn't one of the "whales," the firm's name for high-dollar prospects, leads Seth to a severe attack of conscience. And a conscience is a dangerous thing in the boiler room. In steps the FBI to coax Seth in a not-so-subtle manner to rat on the brokerage firm.
Well, this was a great movie the first time I saw it. It was called The Firm. OK, so Boiler Room lacks the law firm setting, the better-developed plot and Tom Cruise, but the core idea is the same. The first half of the film barely slows down enough to let the audience catch its breath. Watching a room full of attractive young men in designer suits, money dripping off them like the sweat after their last racquetball game, selling stocks as fast as Dairy Queen sells Blizzards in July— does it get more exciting than this?
Superfluous subplots begin to get in the way of the action, however, and the story loses its steam. The only major female and African-American character in the film, Abbie [Nia Long], the secretary, falls for Seth immediately of course regardless of the fact he's the scrawniest and least attractive of the bunch.
The proverbial "make Dad proud" plot rears its ugly head here as well. Rifkin does a superb job with the gritty part of Seth's father, and some of his scenes are the most enjoyable of the film. However, he turns to mush in the end when Seth makes him feel bad about an incident in his childhood. Trite doesn't begin to cover it. This is just total cheese.
There is some decent acting going on here to make the movie worthwhile. Vin Diesel [who costarred with Ribisi in Saving Private Ryan], Affleck, Nicky Katt and Rifkin all give the perfect dimension to their characters. On the other hand, Ribisi, who is great in smaller, more eccentric roles, lacks the edge to effectively pull off this part.
Writer/director Younger falls short in his character development of their relationships on screen. He has the drama and the tension of the boiler room perfected, but his players don't quite make the cut. When Younger's dialogue works, it's to the credit of the actors' talents, not the script itself. Boiler Room is Younger's feature film debut, however, so we can expect to see better things from him in the future.
While it's hard to point to one fatal flaw in Boiler Room, it just doesn't quite deliver the punch the first half of the film leaves the audience hungry for. After stripping away the intensity of the trades and the excitement of making millions, what's left of the story just boils down to a quiet simmer.
REINDEER GAMES IS HO-HO-HORRIBLE
By Todd Halstead
Kansan movie critic
The new movie from veteran film director John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, Ronin) makes one wonder why Rudolph wasn't cast for Reindeer Games, because at least then there would have been a lasting bright spot in this movie about a casino heist gone wrong.
Reindeer Games starts out with an interesting shot of five dead men dressed up as Santa Claus, which displays Frankenheimer's ability to capture the audience's attention with only the camera. Then we are introduced to Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) in prison and his cellmate, Nick (James Frain), who is involved in a pen pal relationship with Ashley (Charlie Theron). Both Nick and Rudy are days from being paroled and Nick plans on meeting Ashley outside of the prison gates for a little nookie. But Nick gets on the wrong end of a makeshift knife and Rudy takes it upon himself to show Ashley a good time by impersonating his recently deceased coll mate. At least he'd probably know how Nick kisses. From there, the viewer learns that Ashley isn't all that she seems when Gabriel (Gary Sinise, reprising his LT Dan look from Forrest Gump), who says he's Ashley's brother, approaches Rudy to help in a casino
Reindeer Games
Acting: B+
Writing: D
Cinematography: A-
Sound: B+
Overall: C
Showing at Southwind 12,3433
lowa St.
robbery.
See. Nick once worked security at a Native-American casino and Gabriel and his thugs need him to pull the heist off.
There are plenty of snappy one-liners and torture scenes to keep one's attention throughout most of the movie. The ending, however, is highly improbable, and the mere fact that the movie is set during Christmas and released in February is irritating.
and release her经纪人 is liking
Has Ben Affleck made a good career
choice since Good Will Hunting? His
acting here is well done, but the most
noticeable thing about him in the
movie is his little bitty baby teeth.
Charlie Theron continues to impress
men, but she also delivers a good
performance as a femme fatale. Very few
good things can be said about Gary
Sinise, and the same is true with this
movie.
Obviously the producers at Miramax didn't check the script twice, because if they had, they wouldn't have made this movie.
Tracy Chapman: Telling Stories
Buy It
It is this struggle that has always been apparent in her music, from the bouts with racial oppression on her 1988 self-titled album to her environmental consciousness on 1995's multi-platinum New Beginning. Telling Stories definitely is less politically charged than her other albums. But songs such as "Paper and Ink," which is a commentary on the social ill stemming from money, maintain Chapman's status as a socially conscious artist.
Tracy Chapman's fifth album feels like home. While maintaining her recognizable sound, *Telling Stories* reveals a maturity and new level of self-reflection. Chapman's stark sincerity and straight-forward language are ever-present, proving that her artistic efforts are consistent. As you listen to the album, you find yourself listening patiently as Chapman deals with old and new ghosts. In "First Try," the 11th and final track on the album, she admits she "Can't learn to accept that it's all right to struggle with the limits of this ordinary life."
At times, though, you can almost feel that Chapman is giving a hopeful smile as she songs.
The vocal harmony provided by popular country-folk musician Emmylou Harris is a nice addition to Chapman's serene, steady voice in the song "The Only One." Even when at her most powerful, Chapman's vocals are subtle, adding to the soothing nature of the album. In this case, sooting is not synonymous with boring or homogeneous. *Telling Stories* is an intriguing album from a Grammy-award winning singer/songwriter that should not be overlooked.
— Melineh Kurdian
Buy It
The Cure Bloodflowers
After saving the world in the second season of South Park, Robert Smith has returned, and this time he's brought the rest of the Cure with him.
The Cure's latest offering, *Bloodflowers*, is as wonderfully depressing as ever. And now that he's getting older, Smith is beginning to think about his mortality. Virtually every song on the album is an analysis of Smith's internal clock ticking and his eventual death.
Clocking in at 11 minutes and 13 seconds, "Watching Me Fall" isn't just a mere song. It's an anthem destined for greatness. Smith sings "I've been watching me go for it must be years. Watching me get slow ... and one day I know I won't come back at all." His desperate tone is effective here, making it easy to see why so many alternative acts try to copy his unique vocals.
Other notable tracks include "There Is No If ..." "The
Last Day of Summer" "30" and "Out of This World."
Another track worth mentioning is the wonderfully titled "Where the Birds Always Sing." Smith has penned a splendid song about the inherent unfairness of the natural selection process and the hope that somewhere there's "another world where the sun always shines and the birds always sing."
Last Day of Summer," '39 and "Out of This World." All things considered, *Bloodflowers* is an excellent album. The hour of music seems to fly by, but the enhanced CD features are lame. With a prolific group like the Cure, one would imagine Elektra could have found something better to do than just put a link to its web site on the CD. Other than the lameness of the "enhancements," the Cure's latest offering is a worthy addition to any music collection.
Justin Parlette
Kittie Spit Buy it
High school girls have been invading the music industry lately. Prancing around half-naked, touting their ex-Mouskeeteer status like a badge of honor while belting out bubble gum pop from their lungs with the emotion of a decapitated fish, none would dream of singing lyrics like "May your death come quickly."
Britney Spears. meet Kittie.
Consisting of four high school girls, Kittle is the first band confirmed for this summer's Ozzfest tour, and its album *Spit* will reassure teenagers' faith in metal in the wake of the bubble gum explosion.
Filled to the brim with distorted guitar riffs and hardcore basslines, Spit is the most refreshing metal album release in quite some time. While Metallica is off playing with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Kittie is taking metal to a new level with vocals and lyrics that drive deep into the psyche of kids growing up in the '90s.
With sometimes violent lyrics ("Kill me, burn my soul") combined with reflections on the American ideal of beauty (on "Do You Think I'm A Whore?"), singer/songwriter Morgan Lander has crafted 12 tracks of sheer chaos that satisfy. Take "Get Off (You Can Eat A Dick)," which features the Lord's Prayer in the song's climax. A lesser group wouldn't be able to pull off such a blasphemous move, but Kittle makes it sacrilic-lious.
It's that type of devil-may-care attitude combined with great young talent that's been missing for the past decade in the metal scene. Tracks to listen for on Spit include the track title, "Charlotte," "Paperdoll" and the lead-off single "Brackish." Kittie is now supporting Seventendus on tour. (And the girls' geometry assignments were die last Thursday.)
Justin Partette