Story Synopsis:
Seth Davis (Ribisi) is a college dropout and a disappointment to his father (Rifkin) even though he runs a successful-but illegal-gambling casino out of his apartment. But when he finds instant success in the Boiler Room of a high stakes stock brokerage firm, he thinks he is on the road to financial independence and redemption in his father’s eyes. Unfortunately, there’s an ugly truth about this particular firm that operates many, many miles from Wall Street. Don’t miss this opportunity!

DVD Picture:
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 DVD exhibits a picture that can be quite pleasing. Images are sharp, with excellent shadow delineation, but fine detail is wanting (perhaps due to the filtered colors). Some scenes appear filtered with blues and others with golden hues and colors that appear smeared and undefined. Colors are otherwise generally balanced throughout, though stylized, with accurate fleshtones and deep, pure blacks. Some scenes are overly contrasted with backlighting that drowns out the visuals. Film grain is revealed throughout. Minor artifacts, pixelization and edge enhancement are also noticed.

Soundtrack:
The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack delivers a palatable sonic experience with good dimension and an immersive soundspace with the music. The dialogue is crisp and intelligible, though voices are placed a bit far forward and therefore compromise spatial integration. This is particularly the case with the narrative. Sound effects are amply distributed throughout the soundfield with screen channel emphasis and subtle directionality in the split surrounds. The music energizes the listening space with prominent surround envelopment and an occasional beating presence via the .1 LFE. This is a notable soundtrack production that is both high-strung and effectively directional.