Billionaire Boys Club

This is a well told, mesmerizing true life docudrama. Even if you know how the story goes, it is told in such an interesting and exciting manner. Judd Nelson is terrific as Joe Hunt, making you believe that he is a good person even if the facts suggest otherwise. He says at one point that "all he ever wanted to do was make money, for everybody." Nelson received a Golden Globe nomination as did McNamara, who plays the baby faced narrator and most sympathetic character. Ron Silver does a great job in the small but critical Ron Levin role. I recommend the film for fans of courtroom dramas and murder mysteries.

... and that is where I found this long forgotten micro mini series. Joe Hunt, a smart but poor kid who mixed with kids richer than himself but more easily influenced, grows up to be a very amoral and ambitious young man. Maybe in another time he wouldn't have gotten into the trouble he did. But it was the 80s and Wall Street was booming. And everybody wanted to get rich quick and was willing to listen to anybody who would tell them that not only they could, but that they would. Enter the young men who believed Joe Hunt could turn their small investments into mountains. They dressed, dined, and walked the walk. But unfortunately the returns Joe promised did not pan out, and that's when he crossed lines that should never be crossed.

Meanwhile the double minded and addled young men he is aligned with are in a dilemma. The luckier ones who are not involved and just know afterwards what Joe said he did have to wonder whether or not to go to the police. The unluckier ones were so mesmerized by Joe that they actually participated.

What makes this rendition of the exploits of the Billionaire Boys' Club better than later productions is that it does not have to try to capture that 80s vibe, because this was made only three years after the fact - in 1987. The mullets, the clothes, the 80s dresses and hairdos on the girls, are still in fashion. I'd highly recommend this one. It was probably Judd Nelson's finest hour. He is quite menacing as Joe Hunt without ever letting you quite know what is making him tick.

This movie is a gem in a haystack. I really recommend it to anyone who is into real greed movies like "the boiler room". My one beef is the comment that Judd Nelson's character makes regarding "like a bee is attracted to honey" because bees are not attracted to honey, rather, bees are attracted to pollen. Honey is a by-product of the bees pollenizeration process that turns the pollen into a wax-type residue usually referred to as "bee's wax." The residue is then manipulated by intense pressures that then liquefy into the substance known as honey. That is about my only big complaint about this movie. I really liked it. Judd Nelson is an underrated genius.

This was a great movie. So, maybe it was a little long, but it had to be. There was so much information that this movie gave us; the true story, from Dean Carny's, Holmby's, and the Fairmount's points of view, and the happenings. Wow! I watched a documentary on the real Billionaire Boys Club, and it was surprising how close the mini-series actually was. Incredible performances by Judd Nelson and Brian McNamera. All around great court movie....*+*Anna*+*

The Billionaire Boys Club is based on the true story of Joe Hunt (Nelson), a shady investor who built an empire on B.S back in the early 80s. Known as the BBC, the story involves a couple of guys recruited into Hunt's company on the promise of making millions. However, everytime Hunt's lapdogs think his boss has used his cleverness to make them filthy rich, they instead find themselves with financial losses. Trying to recoup a mounting pile of debt made from giant b.s. deals, the ruthless Hunt involves select members of the BBC to aid in the worst of crimes to get what they want. But, a few, scared of how far Hunt will go, try to stop Hunt's brutal reign of terror possibly before real damage begins.

The bulk of the story is told in flashback in accordance with testimony of various witnesses at Hunt's murder trial. Most of the testimony comes from Hunt's closet collegue and accomplice, Dean Karney(MacNamara) who was offered immunity in exchange for his testimony. As the story of fraud, greed, kidnapping, and murder unravels, it is unusual how lightly those other than Joe (who naturally behaves with such cruelty) react knowing all the crimes they've committed. A murder here and there, but they can still have such good times at a birthday party, for example. And what's even more disgusting is how the defense team for Joe Hunt tried to write off everything as immature gimmicks, simply stating that Hunt was innocent despite the large number of witnesses testifying against him and the vast paperwork trails that reinforce his guilt. If that was the actual closing arguments offered by the defense, my only guess was it was a last hope that Hunt could get off. And what is even more laughable is how brazen Hunt was about absolutely everything. He is not a sympathetic character in any light. Neither are too many others in the BBC, except for the three responsible for setting off the case that eventually brought down Joe Hunt. And what is much more sickening than that Joe Hunt wasn't the first and isn't the last in the game of greedy ambition (recall that 'Boiler Room' based on a true story that occurred many years after the case of Joe Hunt and the BBC).

I think part of the attraction, too, to this movie is the cast of young actors: Judd Nelson, Brian MacNamara (always an enjoyable actor), John Stockwell, Raphael Sbarge, and many others.

It is an insight into much of the corporate greed that went on particularly in the 1980s.