History Film / BoilerRoom

** The trainees of J.T. Marlin are young men lured with false promises of making big money. Then they are put through absurd requirements at near zero-pay, all the while working for someone else's account with the open desire to replace them with NewMeat. Even the lucky few that make it through are treated with deep contempt by the senior brokers.

** Deconstructed. The film reveals the ugly side of those who promote such scams. The brokers at J.T. Marlin are knowingly robbing investors of their hard-earned savings via securities fraud. Hoping to make a quick buck on the market, the investors in turn are investing in deals TooGoodToBeTrue. The unused ending reveals that [[spoiler:one such client plans a massacre after he lost his life savings and family]].
** Seth also applied for a broker trainee role just to earn legitimately and [[WellDoneSonGuy please his father]], but doesn't realize it's a scam [[spoiler:until he starts snooping around]].

** J.T. Martin is centered around "pump-and-dump" schemes. Once the stock is hyped enough artificially, Michael wraps it up, pays himself and his cronies the real profits before paying his senior brokers their exorbitant fees (which he can afford due to the pumping). He also has enough money left around to keep the company afloat and pay the trainees chump change. The marks who invested in the fraudulent stock are left with nothing, having been suckered by scammers.

** This is actually what the senior brokers at J.T. Marlin do: promise a young NewMeat with big money, then place absurd requirements on them so they'll eventually be fired and replaced with a new sucker. The lucky few who make it are viewed suspiciously by management. Plus, management is also happily willing to let the trainees be CannonFodder and take the heat while the senior brokers get out quickly and set up shop elsewhere — in fact, they have secretly lined up new office space to use (under a different name) if/when they're busted.
* TakingTheKids: One of Seth's victims invests his family's life savings on a worthless company, and after several heated arguments with his wife, she takes the kids and leaves him alone in their home. [[spoiler:Once he realized the man lost all of his savings, Seth regrets his actions, and decides to scam the company and give the guy his money back, right before the Feds come in and arrest everyone. However, it would be meaningless as Seth knows the Feds will halt all transactions, meaning the sell order would never go through in real life. A deleted ending shows the man carrying a loaded gun with the intent to commit a massacre]].

** The trainees are lured in with a FauxtasticVoyage of becoming millionaires, when they are actually the workhorses of a pyramid scheme with JerkAss senior brokers who treat them like crap. As most of them don't make it past the 40 account threshold, they earn subpar wages. J.T. Marlin is also encouraging them to quit so they can be replaced with an endless stream of NewMeat.

* BavarianFireDrill: The J.T. Marlin brokers are told to pretend whomever they want to be as long as they carry the bluff. The unsuspecting marks have no clue to verify the broker's real identity. One scene involves a young trainee claiming to be in the business for 22 years when he really looks like a kid. Another scene shows a senior broker pretending to be the firm's president to an arrogant client.

** The inner workings of J.T. Martin are the [[GetRichQuickScheme classic internship pyramid scheme]]. New trainees are lured in with tales of making big money, but are actually paid subpar wages until they can break through their impossibly high sales ratio. Any sales they make become house accounts, meaning the entire team is working for the company's profits. The company openly expects the trainees to simply flake on their own and thus never have to pay them any real money, while people like Seth are seen as considered outliners and aberrations rather than the expected result.

-->'''Jim Young''': Goddamn it, you fucking guys! I'm gonna keep this short, OK? You passed your Sevens a month ago. Seth's the only one that's opened the necessary 40 accounts for his team leader. When I was a junior broker, I did it in 26 days, okay? You're not sending out press packets anymore. None of this "Debbie the Time-Life operator" bullshit. So get on the phones! It's time to get to work! Get off your ''ass''! Move around! Motion creates emotion! I remember one time I had this guy call me up, wanted to pitch me. Right? Wanted to sell me stock, so I let him. I got every fucking rebuttal out of this guy, kept him on the phone for an hour and half. Towards the end, I started asking him buying questions like, "What's the firm minimum?" — that's a buying question. Right there, that guy's gotta take me down. It's not like I asked him "What's your 800 number?" — that's a fuck-off question. I was giving him a run and he blew it, okay, to a question like, "What is the firm minimum?" — the answer is ''zero''. You don't like the idea, don't pick up a single share! But this putz is telling me, you know, "Uh, 100 shares" — Wrong answer! No! ''You have to be closing all the time!'' And be aggressive. Learn how to push. Talk to them. Ask them questions. Ask them rhetorical questions! It doesn't matter. Anything. Just get a yes out of 'em! "If you're drowning and I throw you a life jacket, would you grab it? Yes! Good. Pick up 200 shares. I won't let you drown." Ask them how they'd like to see 30, 40% returns. What are they gonna say? "No? Fuck you? I don't wanna see those returns?" ''[some of the trainees snicker]'' Stop laughing. It's not funny. If you can't learn how to close, you better start thinking about another career. And I am deadly serious about that — ''dead fucking serious!'' And have your rebuttals ready. A guy says call me tomorrow — bullshit! Somebody tells you that they got money problems about buying 200 shares is ''lying'' to you. You know what I say to them? I say: "Hey look, man. Tell me you don't like my firm. Tell me you don't like my idea. Tell me you don't like my fucking necktie. But don't tell me you can't put together 2,500 bucks." And there is no such thing as a no-sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock, or he sells you on a reason he can't. Either way, a sale is made. The only question is — who's gonna close? You or him? And be relentless. That's it. I'm done.

** This is actually what the senior brokers at J.T. Marlin do: promise a young NewMeat with big money, then place absurd requirements on them so they'll eventually be fired and replaced with a new sucker. The lucky few who make it are viewed suspiciously by the senior brokers. Plus, management is also happily willing to let the trainees be CannonFodder and take the heat while the senior brokers get out quickly and set up shop elsewhere; in fact, J.T. Marlin has secretly lined up new office space to use if/when they're busted.

** J.T. Marlin lures in new trainees with the promise of making them millionaires via a FauxtasticVoyage, when the company actually wants them to burn out with low pay and replace them with NewMeat. Any sales they make become house accounts, meaning the entire team is working for a senior broker's profits. The senior brokers also treat them like crap even if they make it past the 40 account threshold.

** J.T. Marlin lures in new trainees with the promise of making them millionaires via a FauxtasticVoyage, when the company actually wants them to burn out with low pay and replace them with NewMeat. Any sales they make become house accounts, meaning the entire team is working for a senior broker's profits. The senior brokers also treat them like crap when they don't sell enough.

** The inner workings of J.T. Martin are the [[GetRichQuickScheme classic internship pyramid scheme]]. New trainees are lured in with tales of making big money, but are actually paid subpar wages until they can break through their impossibly high sales ratio. Plus, any sales they make go into the senior broker's account, meaning the entire team is working for his profits. The company openly expects the trainees to simply flake on their own and thus never have to pay them any real money, while people like Seth are seen as considered outliners and aberrations rather than the expected result.

** This is actually what the senior brokers at J.T. Marlin do: promise a young NewMeat with big money, then place absurd requirements on them so they'll eventually be fired and replaced with a new sucker. The lucky few who make it are viewed as competition by the establishment. Plus, management is also happily willing to let the trainees be CannonFodder and take the heat while the senior brokers get out quickly and set up shop elsewhere; in fact, J.T. Marlin has secretly lined up other office space to use if/when they're busted.

** The brokers at J.T. Marlin are knowingly robbing investors of their savings via securities fraud, but project themselves as honest businessmen.

* FamilyHonor: Marty is constantly worried that his son's illegal living-room casino will endanger his own career as a federal judge. It's further exacerbated when he [[spoiler:finds out that J.T. Marlin is actually a "pump-and-dump" boiler room]].

** The trainees of J.T. Marlin are young men wooed with false promises of making big money. Then they are put through absurd requirements at near zero-pay, all the while working for someone else's account with the open desire to replace them with NewMeat. Even the lucky few that make it through are treated with deep contempt by the senior brokers.

** This is actually what the senior brokers at J.T. Marlin do: promise a young NewMeat with big money, then place absurd requirements on them so they'll eventually be fired and replaced with a new sucker. The lucky few who make it are viewed as competition by the establishment. Plus, management is also happily willing to let the trainees be CannonFodder and let them take the heat while the senior brokers get out quickly and set up shop elsewhere; in fact, J.T. Marlin has secretly lined up other office space to use if/when they're busted.

* BavarianFireDrill: This is the default behaviour of the J.T. Marlin brokers. Both Chris and Greg instruct Seth that this being a phone call, he can pretend to be whoever he wants or needs to be as long as he carries the bluff. The other side simply has no means to check the broker's real identity. A notable scene involves a young trainee who claims over phone to be 45 and in this business for 22 years when he really looks like a teen.

* PetTheDog: During the group interview, a new recruit sits in Jim Young's seat. Young walks in and politely asks him to move. The guy nervously apologizes and Young assures him it's fine. Then when another recruit calls the first one a dumbass, Young angrily orders the second guy out of the room, and offers his seat to the first guy.

** J.T. Martin is centered around "pump-and-dump" schemes. Once the stock is hyped enough artificially, Michael wraps it up, pays himself and his inner ring the real profits before paying his senior brokers their exorbitant fees (which he can afford due to the pumping). He also has enough money left around to keep the company afloat and pay the trainees chump change. The marks who invested in the fraudulent stock are left with nothing, having been suckered by scammers.
** The inner workings of J.T. Martin are the classic internship pyramid scheme. New trainees are lured in with a GetRichQuickScheme, but are actually paid subpar wages until they can break through their impossibly high sales ratio. On top of that, any sales they make go into the senior broker's account, meaning the entire team is working for his profits. The company openly expects from trainees to simply flake on their own and thus never having to pay them any real money, while people like Seth being considered outliners and aberrations rather than the expected result.

* TheSocialDarwinist: In his introductory rant to the trainees, Jim considers unmotivated salespersons to be pikers who "walk at the bell" and "want vacation time."

** This is actually what the senior brokers at J.T. Marlin do: promise a young NewMeat with big money, then place absurd requirements on them so they'll eventually be fired and replaced with a new sucker. The lucky few who make it are viewed as potential threats by the senior brokers. Plus, the management is also happily willing to let the trainees become CannonFodder for the feds and let them take the heat while the senior brokers get out quickly and set up shop elsewhere; in fact, J.T. Marlin has secretly lined up other office space to use if/when they're busted.

** Seth's apartment is this, too. Since majority of it is used for his illegal casino and he is portrayed as an underachiever, his entire personal life is crammed into a tiny room with a single bed for himself. When Abby visits for the first time, she suggests getting a bed that can accommodate more than one person.

* NewMeat: The blood and life-force of J.T. Marlin are young, inexperienced, untrained, but ''greedy'' men who are wooed with promises of making big money. Then they are put through absurd requirements at near zero-pay, all while working for someone else's account with the open desire to replace them with new schmucks. Even those few that make it through their grueling internship are treated with mistrust and as a possible competition by the senior brokers.

** All of the senior brokers have various shades of this. They are all (relatively) well-off financially, but also very clearly low-class and crude, lacking anything even resembling refinement nor having any idea what to do with their newfound wealth. So they still hang in the seedy bars they were going prior, dress in cheap, ill-fitted suits and acting like rowdy frat boys. The best idea what to do with their money for them is to play craps in a corner, betting in thousands.

** J.T. Martin is centered around "pump-and-dump" scheme. Once the stock are sufficiently hyped and their price artificially rise, Michael wraps it up, pays himself and his inner ring the real profit, then pay his senior brokers their exorbitant fees (which he can afford due to the pumping) and then also have enough money left around for keeping the company afloat

** The trainees are lured in with a FauxtasticVoyage of becoming millionaires, when they are actually the workhorses of a pyramid scheme with JerkAss senior brokers who treat them like crap. As most of them don't make it past the 40 account threshold, they earn subpar wages. J.T. Marlin is also passively pushing them to quit so they can be replaced with an endless stream of NewMeat.

** This is actually what the senior brokers at J.T. Marlin do: promise a young NewMeat with big money, then place absurd requirements on them so they'll eventually be fired and replaced with a new sucker. The lucky few who make it are viewed as potential threats by the senior brokers.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: J.T. Marlin overcharges on the fraudulent stock it sells with the brokers getting a "rip" of two dollars for every share sold. While transaction fees are an industry norm, any investor should always look at said fees and if their broker is "churning" (overtrading on client accounts for the sake of more commissions). Overcharging clients and churning are considered illegal, and the firm and its brokers would face sanctions.

* BasementDweller: Chris is still living with his mom, despite making a quarter million per month.
* BavarianFireDrill: This is the default behaviour of all the brokers from J.T. Marlin. Both Chris and Greg instruct Seth that this being a phone call, he can pretend to be whoever he wants or needs to be, because as long as he caries the bluff, the other side simply has no means to check his real identity. A notable scene involves a young trainee who claims over phone to be 45 and in this business for 22 years, while the kid barely looks to even be 22.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The film deconstructs the "greed is good" mentality and get-rich-quick schemes, revealing the ugly side of the firms that are behind such scams. The brokers at J.T. Marlin are knowingly robbing investors of their savings via securities fraud. Hoping to make a quick buck, the investors in turn are buying deals TooGoodToBeTrue and companies that have not been vetted properly. The unused ending reveals that [[spoiler:one such client plans a massacre after he lost his life savings and family]]. The trainee brokers themselves get berated when they don't sell enough, with Seth arguing with his boss many times once he started dating his ex-girlfriend.

* FauxtasticVoyage: The "companies" promoted by J.T. Marlin use run-down buildings, fancy-sounding names, and fake returns to convince unwitting clients that they're legit. When Seth snoops around the "office" of one such "company" and checks their records, [[OhCrap he notices something is off]].

* NewMeat: The blood and life-force of J.T. Marlin are young, inexperienced, untrained, but ''greedy'' men who are wooed with promises of making big money. Then they are put through absurd requirements at near zero-pay, all while working for someone else's account, with the open desire to replace them with new schmucks. Even those few that make it through their grueling internship are treated with mistrust and as a possible competition by the senior brokers.

** The inner workings of J.T. Martin are the classic internship pyramid scheme. New trainees are lured in with a GetRichQuickScheme, but are actually paid subpar wage until they can break through their impossibly high sales ratio. On top of that, any sales they make go into account of the senior broker, meaning the entire team is working for his profits. The company openly expects from trainees to simply flake on their own and thus never having to pay them any real money, while people like Seth being considered outliners and aberrations rather than the expected result.

* NewMeat: The blood and life-force of J.T. Marlin are young, inexperienced, untrained, but ''greedy'' men who are wooed with promises of making big money. Then they are put through absurd requirements at near zero-pay, all while working for someone else account, with the open desire to force them to quit and replace them with new schmucks. Even those few that make it through their grueling internship are treated with mistrust and as a possible competition by the senior brokers.

** When Seth visits Jim's uber-spendy mansion, he finds it barely furnished, with a tanning bed filling the elegant dining room. Seth internally remarks that Jim obviously has no idea what to do with his expensive house.

** The inner working of J.T. Martin are the classic internship pyramid scheme. New trainees are lured in with GetRichQuickScheme, but are actually paid less than minimal wage until they can break through their impossibly high sales ratio. On top of that, any sales they make go into account of the senior broker, meaning entire team is working for his profits. The company openly expects from trainees to simply flake on their own and thus never having to pay them any real money, while people like Seth being considered outliners and aberration, rather than the expected result.

* TheSocialDarwinist: In his introductory rant to the trainee brokers, Jim Young considers unmotivated salespersons to be pikers who "walk at the bell" and "want vacation time."

* WideEyedIdealist: Once Seth joins J.T. Marlin, he's unaware that it's actually a scam conning unsuspecting investors through a "pump-and-dump" operation. [[spoiler:It's only when Seth does a bit of snooping around, gets an earful from his father regarding the dark and ugly truth behind J.T. Marlin, and after he cheated a guy out of his money and family by selling him bogus shares does he realize that he's been duped. [[HeelRealization Wracked with the guilt of]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone cheating investors of their hard-earned money]], Seth decides to shut the firm down for good by cooperating with the FBI.]]

* CopCriminalFamily: Marty Davis is a federal judge with future political ambitions, but is embarrassed by his son Seth running an illegal casino from his dorm room. When Seth starts working for J.T. Marlin, which turns out to be a [[WhiteCollarCrime scam brokerage firm]], the FBI use the potential destruction to his father's career to coerce Seth into becoming their informant.

** The other trainees are lured in with an unrealistic promise of becoming millionaires, while in reality, they are the working mules of a pyramid scheme, working for their supervising senior broker, who routinely berate them when they don't hit their quota. Since the majority can't make it pass the 40 deals, they are instead paid below minimal wage. J.T. Marlin is also passively pushing them to quit so they can be replaced with an endless stream of NewMeat.

* GreedyJew: Greg, along with few other brokers. There is whole lot of dialogues making references both to his [[InformedJudaism Jewish background]], but also the public perception of him being a Jewish guy working as a stock broker and in a chop-shop, too.

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Greg the prick [[EvilCannotComprehendGood doesn't understand]] as to why Abby started dating Seth. His arrogance is what made the relationship go sour.
* WhiteCollarCrime: J.T. Marlin is a "pump-and-dump" scam, where the shares of expired or fake companies (as well as speculative penny and micro-cap stocks) are inflated through false statements. Once the operators of the scheme "dump" (aka sell) their holdings, the price falls and the investors lose money.

** The other trainees are lured in with an unrealistic promise of becoming millionaires, while in reality they are the working mules of a pyramid scheme, working for their supervising senior broker. Since majority can't make it pass the 40 deals, they are instead paid below minimal wage instead and J.T. Marlin is actively pushing them to quit, so they can be replaced with endless stream of NewMeat.

* GetRichQuickScheme: Deconstructed. The film reveals the ugly side of those who promote such scams. The brokers at J.T. Marlin are knowingly robbing investors of their hard-earned savings via securities fraud. Hoping to make a quick buck on the market, the investors in turn are investing in deals TooGoodToBeTrue. The unused ending reveals that [[spoiler:one such client plans a massacre after he lost his life savings and family]]. The trainee brokers themselves get berated when they don't sell enough, with Seth arguing with his boss many times once he started dating his ex-girlfriend. Seth also applied for a broker trainee role just to earn legitimately and [[WellDoneSonGuy please his father]], but doesn't realize it's a scam [[spoiler:until he starts snooping around]].

* LonelyBachelorPad: After work, a couple of the guys from J.T. Marlin all get together at the house of one of their senior brokers, which is a huge, almost completely empty domicile aside from a few pieces of furniture such as a tanning bed. Seth even asks one of his colleagues if the owner just moved in, but is informed that he's actually been living there for months and [[NouveauRiche has no clue what to do with it]].

* NouveauRiche: When Seth visits Jim's uber-spendy mansion, he finds it barely furnished, with a tanning bed filling the elegant dining room. Seth internally remarks that Jim obviously has no idea what to do with his expensive house.

-->'''Marty''': [[spoiler:Hey. I spoke to Howard Goldberg over at Prudential. You lied again, you unbelievable [[PrecisionFStrike piece of shit]]. ''You lied to all of us.'' He told me about J.T. Marlin — it's a chop shop, Seth. You've been selling their shit all this time. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion How many people have you fucked over? Tell me,]] ''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion how many?]]'' All that bullshit about them wanting you to know how the business works. The great training program, remember? All the profits you made for your customers? Did you do anything for them, Seth? Tell me, did you make them ''any'' money at all?'' ''[Seth can only look down in shame]'' Oh god. I'm done with you, Seth. This is it. I've had it. [[IHaveNoSon I don't want to see you again. I don't want you to come to the house.]] I don't want you to call. This is ''worse'' than the casino, Seth. You've been stealing. Look at me. ''[Seth looks at him]'' You're ''destroying'' people's lives.]]

* GetRichQuickScheme: The film deconstructs this, revealing the ugly side of those who promote such scams. The brokers at J.T. Marlin are knowingly robbing investors of their hard-earned savings via securities fraud. Hoping to make a quick buck on the market, the investors in turn are investing in deals TooGoodToBeTrue. The unused ending reveals that [[spoiler:one such client plans a massacre after he lost his life savings and family]]. The trainee brokers themselves get berated when they don't sell enough, with Seth arguing with his boss many times once he started dating his ex-girlfriend. Seth also applied for a broker trainee role just to earn legitimately and [[WellDoneSonGuy please his father]], but doesn't realize it's a scam [[spoiler:until he starts snooping around]].

* HideTheEvidence: One scene shows J.T. Marlin's compliance officer [[DestroyTheEvidence shredding]] and altering records to hide their criminality. [[spoiler:As part of his deal with the FBI, Seth makes copies of his client files onto a floppy disk so it can be used as evidence]].

* TheInformant: [[spoiler:The FBI offers Seth federal immunity if he agrees to testify against J.T. Marlin once all the suspects are arrested, and threatens to involve Marty in order to assure Seth's cooperation. But Seth states he will ''only'' do so if his father is not dragged into the case. He and the agents come to an agreement on this, with Seth being kept overnight and allowed to return to work so he could make copies of his book of business onto a floppy disk to be used as evidence.]]

* MisaimedFandom: InUniverse. There's a scene where the guys are having a party and watching Gordon Gekko's introduction from ''Film/WallStreet'', and being big fans of the guy, they start quoting the entire thing verbatim. Gekko is actually a CorruptCorporateExecutive who would throw thousands of people on the street for profit and ultimately gets jailed for securities fraud. This is a JustifiedTrope as the Boiler Room guys are knowingly scammers themselves who project an honest image to outsiders.

-->'''Marty''': [[spoiler:Hey. I spoke to Howard Goldberg over at Prudential. You lied again, you unbelievable [[PrecisionFStrike piece of shit]]. ''You lied to all of us.'' He told me about J.T. Marlin — it's a chop shop, Seth. You've been selling their shit all this time. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion How many people have you fucked over? Tell me,]] ''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion how many?]]'' [[ArmorPiercingQuestion All that bullshit about them wanting you to know how the business works. The great training program, remember? All the profits you made for your customers? Did you do anything for them, Seth? Tell me, did you]] ''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion make them any money at all?]]'' ''[Seth can only look down in shame]'' Oh god. I'm done with you, Seth. This is it. I've had it. [[IHaveNoSon I don't want to see you again. I don't want you to come to the house.]] I don't want you to call. This is ''worse'' than the casino, Seth. You've been stealing. Look at me. ''[Seth looks at him]'' You're ''destroying'' people's lives.]]

* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: Greg explains to Seth that the firm ''never'' sells to women as they will pester the brokers over the stock's performance. The director stated it's also because men are inherently bigger gamblers than women.

* NouveauRiche: When Seth visits Jim's uber-spendy mansion, he finds it barely furnished, with a tanning bed filling the elegant dining room; Seth internally remarks that Jim obviously has no idea what to do with his expensive house.

-->'''Jim Young''': Goddamn it, you fucking guys! I'm gonna keep this short, OK? You passed your Sevens a month ago. Seth's the only one that's opened the necessary 40 accounts for his team leader. When I was a junior broker, I did it in 26 days, okay? You're not sending out press packets anymore. None of this "Debbie the Time-Life operator" bullshit. So get on the phones! It's time to get to work! Get off your ''ass''! Move around! Motion creates emotion! I remember one time I had this guy call me up, wanted to pitch me. Right? Wanted to sell me stock, so I let him. I got every fucking rebuttal out of this guy, kept him on the phone for an hour and half. Towards the end, I started asking him buying questions like, "What's the firm minimum?" — that's a buying question. Right there, that guy's gotta take me down. It's not like I asked him "What's your 800 number?" — that's a fuck-off question. I was giving him a run, and he blew it, okay, to a question like, "What is the firm minimum?" — the answer is ''zero''. You don't like the idea, don't pick up a single share! But this putz is telling me, you know, "Uh, 100 shares" — Wrong answer! No! '''You have to be closing all the time!''' And be aggressive. Learn how to push. Talk to them. Ask them questions. Ask them rhetorical questions! It doesn't matter. Anything. Just get a "yes" out of 'em! "If you're drowning and I throw you a life jacket, would you grab it? Yes! Good. Pick up 200 shares. I won't let you drown." Ask them how they'd like to see 30, 40% returns. What are they gonna say? "No? Fuck you? I don't wanna see those returns?" ''[some of the trainees snicker]'' Stop laughing. It's not funny. If you can't learn how to close, you better start thinking about another career. And I am deadly serious about that — ''dead fucking serious!'' And have your rebuttals ready. A guy says call me tomorrow — bullshit! Somebody tells you that they got money problems about buying 200 shares is ''lying'' to you. You know what I say to them? I say: "Hey look, man. Tell me you don't like my firm. Tell me you don't like my idea. Tell me you don't like my fucking necktie. But don't tell me you can't put together 2,500 bucks." And there is no such thing as a no-sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock, or he sells you on a reason he can't. Either way, a sale is made. The only question is — who's gonna close? You or him? And be relentless. That's it. I'm done.

* TakingTheKids: One of Seth's victims invests his family's life savings on a worthless company, and after several heated arguments with his wife, she takes the kids and leaves him alone in their home. [[spoiler:Once he realized the man lost all of his savings, Seth regrets his actions, and decides to scam the company and give the guy his money back, right before the Feds come in and arrest everyone. However, it would be meaningless as Seth knows the Feds will halt all transactions, meaning the sell order would never go through in real life]].

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: Seth tells a client that CNBC put a buy reco on Farrow Tech. In reality, that would put CNBC in trouble as while they can provide economic commentary, they ''are NOT'' broker-dealers and have no authority to recommend a certain stock. Only licensed stockbrokers are allowed to recommend a security.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Seth browbeats Chris into signing a sell order for a client so he can make his money back. But there's one BIG problem: most securities transactions have a mandated "settling" period before they go live. Since Seth knows the FBI's first act upon arriving will be to halt all transactions, the sell order would never go through in real life. It would be a completely meaningless gesture]]. It's implied Seth himself is unaware of this.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The film deconstructs the "greed is good" mentality and get-rich-quick schemes, revealing the ugly side of the firms that are behind such scams. The brokers at J.T. Marlin are knowingly robbing investors of their savings via securities fraud. Hoping to make a quick buck, the investors in turn are investing in deals TooGoodToBeTrue and companies that have not been vetted properly. The unused ending reveals that [[spoiler:one such client plans a massacre after he lost his life savings and family]]. The trainee brokers themselves get berated when they don't sell enough, with Seth arguing with his boss many times once he started dating his ex-girlfriend.

* {{Greed}}: Since most of the brokers at J.T. Marlin are Gordon Gekko wannabes, it really shows, as they're white collar crooks knowingly committing securities and investment fraud, and the lousy shares they're selling to unsuspecting investors are bogus. The scene where Seth watches his colleagues imitate Gekko while watching ''Film/WallStreet'' also shows who they truly are. Greg even directly references the foul-mouthed real estate broker from ''Film/GlengarryGlenRoss''.

* HideTheEvidence: One scene shows J.T. Marlin's compliance officer shredding and altering records to hide their criminality.
* IHaveNoSon: [[spoiler:Marty promptly disowns Seth after giving him a WhatTheHellHero speech about the ugly truth of J.T. Marlin. This is eventually subverted when Seth decides to shut the firm for good by cooperating with the FBI and reconciling with his father.]]

* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: Greg explains to Seth that the firm ''never'' sells to women as they will constantly nag the brokers over the stock's performance. The director stated it's also because men are inherently bigger gamblers than women.

* MissedHimByThatMuch: [[spoiler:In an alternate ending for the movie, the man that Seth cheated out of his money goes to the J.T. Marlin office with a gun to get his revenge. He pulls up in the parking lot just when Seth himself is about to leave the company for his own reasons, and they bump into each other without recognizing the other person.]]

* LonelyBachelorPad: After work, a couple of the guys from J.T. Marlin all get together at the house of one of their senior brokers, which is a huge, almost completely empty domicile aside from a few pieces of furniture such as a tanning bed. Seth even asks one of his colleagues if the owner just moved in, but is informed that he's actually been living there for months and [[NouveauRiche has no clue what to do of it]].

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: J.T. Marlin overcharges on the fraudulent stock it sells with the brokers getting a "rip" of two dollars for every share sold. While transaction fees are an industry norm, any investor should always look at how they're being assessed and if their broker is "churning" (overtrading on client accounts for the sake of more commissions). Overcharging clients and churning are considered illegal, and the firm and its brokers would be sanctioned by the SEC.

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: Seth tells a client that CNBC put a buy reco on Farrow Tech. In reality, that would put CNBC in trouble as while they can talk about financial news, they ''are NOT'' broker-dealers and have no authority to recommend a certain stock. Only licensed stockbrokers are allowed to recommend a security.

* GetRichQuickScheme: The film deconstructs this, revealing the ugly side of those who promote such scams. The brokers at J.T. Marlin are knowingly robbing investors of their hard-earned savings via securities fraud. Hoping to make a quick buck on the market, the investors in turn are investing in deals TooGoodToBeTrue. The unused ending reveals that [[spoiler:one such client plans a massacre after he lost his life savings and family]]. The trainee brokers themselves get berated when they don't sell enough, with Seth arguing with his boss many times once he started dating his ex-girlfriend. Seth also applied for a broker trainee role just to make more money legitimately and [[WellDoneSonGuy please his father]], but doesn't realize it's a scam [[spoiler:until he starts snooping around]].

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics:
** At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Seth browbeats Chris into signing a sell order for a client so he can make his money back. But there's one BIG problem: most securities transactions have a mandated "settling" period before they go live. Since Seth knows the FBI's first act upon arriving will be to halt all transactions, the sell order would never go through in real life. It would be a completely meaningless gesture]]. It's implied Seth himself is unaware of this.
** Seth tells a client that CNBC put a buy reco on Farrow Tech. In reality, that would put CNBC in trouble as while they can talk about financial news, they ''are NOT'' broker-dealers and have no authority to recommend a certain stock. Only licensed stockbrokers are allowed to recommend a security.

** Greg tells Michael that he has clients who continue to trade with him despite taking huge losses. In reality, nobody would want to buy from anyone who sells shoddy products or services.
** Chris tells Seth that J.T. Marlin gets a "rip" of two dollars for every share sold. While securities transaction fees are an industry norm, any investor should always look at the fees their broker is charging for every trade they place.
** At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Seth browbeats Chris into signing a sell order for a client so he can make his money back. But there's one BIG problem: most securities transactions have a mandated "settling" period before they go live. Since Seth knows the FBI's first act upon arriving will be to halt all transactions, the sell order would never go through in real life. It would be a completely meaningless gesture]].

* CopCriminalFamily: Marty Davis is a federal judge with future political ambitions, but is embarrassed by his son Seth running an illegal casino from his dorm room. When Seth starts working for J.T. Marlin, which turns out to be a [[WhiteCollarCrime scam brokerage firm]], the FBI use the potential destruction to his father's career to coerce Seth into going informant.
* {{Deconstruction}}:
** The film deconstructs the "greed is good" mentality and get-rich-quick schemes, revealing the ugly side of the firms that are behind such scams. The brokers at J.T. Marlin are knowingly robbing investors of their savings via securities fraud. Hoping to make a quick buck, the investors in turn are investing in deals TooGoodToBeTrue and companies that have not been vetted properly. The unused ending reveals that [[spoiler:one such client plans a massacre after he lost his life savings and family]]. The trainee brokers themselves get berated when they don't sell enough, with Seth arguing with his boss many times once he started dating his ex-girlfriend.
** Marty fears that Seth's illegal casino will harm his career as a judge. [[WellDoneSonGuy Hoping to please him]] and go legit, Seth gets a job at J.T. Marlin, not realizing it's a scam until [[spoiler:he noticed J.T. Marlin fudged its records to fool regulators. Seth even gets an earful from Marty, who fears this will be more embarrassing than the illegal casino. Realizing he duped investors of their hard-earned savings, Seth cooperates with the FBI to get a lighter sentence]].

* ExecutiveExcess: Subverted. The "businessmen" at J.T. Marlin are all professional scammers involved in a pump-and-dump scheme and have made ridiculous amounts of cash, but really don't know how to spend it. When they get together after work at Greg's house, it's entirely empty except for a tanning bed and a flatscreen TV.

* GoingPostal: [[spoiler:An alternate ending has Seth barely dodging becoming part of a ([[BolivianArmyEnding possible]]) massacre at the offices of J.T. Marlin by [[TheDogBitesBack a pissed-off scammed client]]. For further irony, it's a client who got scammed by Seth]].

* TheMark: As J.T. Marlin is a "boiler room" committing micro-cap stock fraud, the victims are unsuspecting investors lured into TooGoodToBeTrue returns via dishonest sales tactics. [[spoiler:It's only a bit of snooping around, an earful from his father, and a lousy stock deal causes Seth to shut the firm down for good by cooperating with the FBI]].

** J.T. Marlin overcharges and overtrades on the fraudulent stock it sells to unsuspecting investors. This is viewed as unethical and would result in regulatory fines and sanctions.

* FauxtasticVoyage: The "companies" promoted by J.T. Marlin use run-down buildings and fake returns to convince unwitting clients that they're legit. When Seth snoops around the "office" of one such "company" and checks their records, [[HeelRealization he notices something is off]].

''Boiler Room'' is a 2000 American crime drama film with elements of {{film noir}}, written and directed by Ben Younger and starring Creator/GiovanniRibisi, Creator/VinDiesel, Creator/NiaLong, Nicky Katt, Creator/ScottCaan, Ron Rifkin, Creator/JamieKennedy, Creator/TomEverettScott, and Creator/BenAffleck.

** Marty fears that Seth's illegal casino will harm his career as a judge. [[WellDoneSonGuy Hoping to please him]] and go legit, Seth gets a job at J.T. Marlin, not realizing it's a scam until [[spoiler:he starts snooping around for the firm's records, much of which is fudged to fool regulators, and even gets an earful from Marty, who fears this will be more embarrassing than the illegal casino. Realizing he duped investors of their hard-earned savings, Seth cooperates with the FBI to get a lighter sentence]].

-->'''Jim Young''': Goddamn it, you fucking guys! I'm gonna keep this short, OK? You passed your Sevens a month ago. Seth's the only one that's opened the necessary 40 accounts for his team leader. When I was a junior broker, I did it in 26 days. Okay? You're not sending out press packets anymore. None of this "Debbie the Time-Life operator" bullshit. So get on the phones! It's time to get to work! Get off your ''ass''! Move around! Motion creates emotion! I remember one time I had this guy call me up, wanted to pitch me. Right? Wanted to sell me stock, so I let him. I got every fucking rebuttal out of this guy, kept him on the phone for an hour and half. Towards the end, I started asking him buying questions like, "What's the firm minimum?" — that's a buying question. Right there, that guy's gotta take me down. It's not like I asked him "What's your 800 number?" — that's a fuck-off question. I was giving him a run, and he blew it, okay, to a question like, "What is the firm minimum?" — the answer is ''zero''. You don't like the idea, don't pick up a single share! But this putz is telling me, you know, "Uh, 100 shares" — Wrong answer! No! '''You have to be closing all the time!''' And be aggressive. Learn how to push. Talk to them. Ask them questions. Ask them rhetorical questions! It doesn't matter. Anything. Just get a "yes" out of 'em! "If you're drowning and I throw you a life jacket, would you grab it? Yes! Good. Pick up 200 shares. I won't let you drown." Ask them how they'd like to see 30, 40% returns. What are they gonna say? "No? Fuck you? I don't wanna see those returns?" ''[some of the trainees snicker]'' Stop laughing. It's not funny. If you can't learn how to close, you better start thinking about another career. And I am deadly serious about that — ''dead fucking serious!'' And have your rebuttals ready. A guy says call me tomorrow — bullshit! Somebody tells you that they got money problems about buying 200 shares is ''lying'' to you. You know what I say to them? I say: "Hey look, man. Tell me you don't like my firm. Tell me you don't like my idea. Tell me you don't like my fucking necktie. But don't tell me you can't put together 2,500 bucks." And there is no such thing as a no-sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock, or he sells you on a reason he can't. Either way, a sale is made. The only question is — who's gonna close? You or him? And be relentless. That's it. I'm done.