Previews for "Boiler Room" feature Ben Affleck telling his crew of cold-calling stock sellers, "You have to be closing all the time!" Fans of "Glengarry Glen Ross" will immediately be transported back to Alec Baldwin's scenery-chewing cameo in the movie version of David Mamet's play, where he growls that the real-estate salesmen gathered before him should "Always be closing."

The story of a young Giovanni Ribisi being sucked into the vortex of unethical investment sales by boiler-room stock seller Affleck will remind others of the tale of a young Charlie Sheen being sucked into the vortex of unethical stock-market practices by the rapacious Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street."

But "Boiler Room" --termed a "white gangsta movie" by the Hollywood Reporter --gained some indie cred when it premiered at the recent Sundance 2000 film festival. Perhaps that exposure will help "Boiler Room" lose the shadow of those previous films and keep critics from selling it short. But we wouldn't bet our life savings on it.

Frank Sennett

Newcity.com affiliates let off steam about "Boiler Room":

BILLIONAIRE BOYS FLUB
"Boiler Room" is a high-risk entertainment investment

HEAD OF STEAM
This remarkable debut film from Ben Younger sizzles

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?
"Boiler Room" distills life down to the adrenaline rush of selling suckers the dreams of riches

BOILER POINT
Director Ben Younger's compelling debut is a sharp-edged morality tale about ruthless hucksters selling worthless stock in the American dream

COLD CALL
Like a telemarketer's pitch, "Boiler Room" starts energetically but ultimately flags

HARD-BOILED SCAM
"Boiler Room" writer-director Ben Younger puts the next generation of Gordon Gekkos on the hot seat