Marsha Dietlein | Through the Shattered Lens

I have to admit that, when I see Joe Estevez’s name in the credits, I’m usually not expecting to see him cast as a saintly man whose faith holds his family together and gives people a reason to keep on living.

That’s nothing against Joe Estevez. Estevez is the youngest brother of actor Martin Sheen and there’s definitely a family resemblance between the two. That said, while Martin is best-known for playing priests and absurdly left-wing presidents, Joe Estevez has often been cast as villains. If Joe Estevez plays a cop, you can bet he’ll turn out to be dirty. If he plays a politician, he’ll turn out to be corrupt. If he’s a CEO, you can bet his company is going to be pouring sludge into the reservoir. Some actors just get typecast as villains and that seems to be the case with Joe Estevez.

That makes My Brother’s Crossing a definite change-of-pace. Estevez appears as Bobby Clark, a former fireman who rides a motorcycle and who tells all of his bickering relatives, including brother JT (Daniel Roebuck), that they need to turn their lives over to God. Bobby is married to Pam (Eliza Roberts) and they’re both beloved members amongst their community.

One night, both Bobby and Pam are killed when they collide with a car. The driver of the car is CJ Martin (James Black), a pastor. As a stunned CJ sits in an ambulance, he’s approached by a biker (Duane Whitaker) who introduces himself as Pastor Mike Price. Pastor Mike says a prayer over CJ. As he walks away, he’s approached by two EMTs who say, “Pastor, we want to serve your God.” Mike looks up to Heaven and gives praise to Bobby for bringing people to God, even in death.

Yep, this is one of those movies. It’s a low-budget, not particularly well-made, painfully slow faith-based movie. CJ is forgiven by Bobby’s daughter and indeed, the entire Clark family eventually comes to forgive him. He’s even invited to eat dinner with surviving members of the family. At first, JT is driven by his need for revenge but, ultimately, he not only insists that CJ not be charged with vehicular manslaughter but he also pays CJ’s fine for reckless driving. “Praise Jesus,” CJ says. Oh, the mixed feelings! I’m all about forgiveness but everything about the accident suggests that the vehicular manslaughter charge was totally justified. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be consequences for their actions.

To be honest, though, I almost feel guilty about giving this film a negative review, just because it’s based on a true story and it’s told so earnestly (if also amateurishly). My father died a few months after he was involved in a car accident. This woman and her lawyers attempted to sue his estate after he passed and, for months, I was consumed by hatred for her and the people representing her in court. Eventually, I realized that I had to let go of that hate and I had to forgive her, if just so I could move on. That doesn’t mean that I’m obligated to like her, though. I did give that some thought while I watched this movie and that’s probably the compliment that I can give My Brothers’s Crossing.

Released in 2000, Boiler Room tells the story of Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi).

Seth is only 19 years old. He’s the son of a federal judge and he’s also a college dropout. Seth is making a pretty good living for himself, running a casino out of a house near the campus. One night, a handsome 20something named Greg Weinstein (Nicky Katt) stops by and tells Seth that he could be making an even better living for himself as a broker at J.T. Marlin.

Located somewhere in Long Island, J.T. Marlin is a brokerage firm that is dominated by loud and young men. Overseen by the ruthless Jim Young (Ben Affleck, doing the glorified cameo thing), J.T. Marlin is a place where everyone owns an expensive car, an expensive watch, and where everyone brags about how much money they’ve made. The insults and slurs fly from desk to desk, as they tend to do whenever a bunch of wealthy, highly competitive guys get together. J.T. is seduced by the atmosphere, even as he watches some broker breaks down due to the pressure. He becomes friends with Chris Varick (Vin Diesel) and falls for receptionist Abbie Halpert (Nia Long), who just happens to be Greg’s ex-girlfriend. Eventually, Seth gets good at his job. Unfortunately, it turns out that his job is centered around tricking people into investing in a pyramid scheme and eventually, one of Seth’s clients, Harry (Taylor Nichols), ends up broke and without his family. The guilt-stricken Seth realizes that he has a conscience.

Like a lot of these type of movies, Boiler Room is at its best when it starts, when it’s all about tough talk, rude jokes, and obsessive competition amongst a bunch of well-dressed good-looking guys. Nicky Katt and Vin Diesel are so much fun to listen to that it’s hard not to regret that the entire film wasn’t just about them. Things become significantly less interesting once the FBI shows up and Seth decides to become a snitch. For the most part, no one like a snitch, even if they’re motivated by the purest of intentions. To make a snitch likable, he has to be a truly compelling character, like Henry Hill in Goodfellas. For the most part, audiences prefer anti-heroes who go down with the ship as opposed to the rats who jump into the first lifeboat they see. In The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort agrees to wear a wire but then slips his business partner a note, warning him. That’s one of the reasons why The Wolf of Wall Street is still a classic while Boiler Room has been largely forgotten. As a character, Seth just isn’t compelling enough to pull off the snitch act. Nor does he really seem clever enough to pull off what he does at the end of the film.

That said, I do enjoy Boiler Room. It’s largely due to the cast. Nicky Katt, Vin Diesel, Scott Caan, Giovanni Ribisi, they were all young, energetic, and eager to show off what they could do. While their characters competed to see who could make the most money, the actors competed to see who could steal the most scenes. The film is ultimately only so-so but that cast is unforgettable.