Mark my words. Giovanni Ribisi will win an Oscar sometime within the next 10 years. The guy is simply one of the most versatile and interesting young actors America has to offer right now. Sure, he can be a bit too over the top. And he doesn't have suave, typical, good looks to help him achieve stardom. But Ribisi digs his heels into any role he takes on and offers up some of the finest work to be seen at the American multiplex.

Finally, thank God, he has a leading role worthy of his chops. "Boiler Room," a self-proclaimed homage to "Glengarry Glenn Ross" and "Wall Street," has several young actors eschewing "pretty boy" roles and chewing the scenery instead. Yes, it's not a perfect film. Yes, it's got wannabee written all over it. But you know what - it rocks. It's intense. It's involving. It's a little sideline detour into a smarmy world of testosterone driven money grubbing attitudes which have been adopted as lifestyle by young men across America. And better yet, anyone whose ever had a "real" sales job will understand what is going on immediately.

Ribisi plays a college dropout trying to make his father proud. The dad is played by Ron Rifkin with as much hardened masculinity as his younger counterparts. Rifkin has to deliver far too much unbelievable hard-nosed dialogue that his final reel conversion to a "good guy" is hard to swallow. But it's Rifkin's telephone-pole of a father figure that drives Ribisi's Seth to do all that he does here.

The film is bursting at the seems with America's best young actors. Sure Ben Affleck has the name, and he pulls off a scene stealing hard-ass here. But it is Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Nicky Katt, and Scott Caan that drift from the periphery into the crux of the film at times and truly make it shine. Diesel's Chris is a particular standout. His scenes in the final moments of the film with Ribisi bring the story full circle and offer a tremendous counterpunch to Seth's intuitive intelligence as well as his inability to rectify the choices he has made.

First time Writer/Director Ben Younger crafts an awesome look at day traders here. He incorporates some truly interesting scenes. Seth's phone conversation with a telemarketer is a particularly clever and engaging. And Ribisi pulls it off perfectly. Younger has a knack for character and scene writing and he does an awesome job of establishing character and motivation before he worries about plot or contrivances. His film flows.

Younger uses rap music to fuel the film. Not because it's cool or hip or will sell a shitload of soundtracks. But because it fits the film. This is the music these characters would listen to. And this is the attitudes these boys have - that of a rapper. It's not about getting rich through hard work or superior creativity. It's about scheming and skipping and lucking your way into the money. It's about taking what isn't yours. It's about raping the system to make it work for you.

If you want car crashes and gun shots and explosions, this isn't the film for you. If you want to see a handful of America's top young male acting talents get a chance to devour a script that really allows them to shine, see "Boiler Room." Your seeing the future of the American cinematic landscape here. And it looks damn good.

Note:

Also with Tom Everett Scott, Jaime Kennedy, and William Sage.

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