"Billionaire Boys Club" is based on the true story of Joe Hunt and Dean Karny, a couple of guys in their twenties who reconnect after high school. They want to make a lot of money fast, and they cook up the idea of the BBC, which is later given the moniker Billionaire Boys Club by a sleazy high roller named Ron Levin (Kevin Spacey). The film overreaches in its attempts to make their sordid story credible.

Joe and Dean had attended an elite prep school in Los Angeles. It was Dean who had formed some associations with rich kids from Beverly Hills. After Dean has reunited with Joe, they decide to approach their old school mates with the opportunity to invest in their new Ponzi scheme.

Much of the film depicted Joe and Dean giving their sales pitches and taking enormous sums of cash from their gullible victims. At the same time, the two hustlers are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Ron Levin, who appears to be one of their investors, but is actually playing them for suckers. The filmmakers never made it seem believable that investors would invest with the two youngsters, based on what we see in the film.

Things come to ahead when Joe and Dean have squandered their clients' funds, broken the law, and then, incredibly, engage in a double homicide to cover their tracks. Throughout the film, the bonding between Joe and Dean appears to be inseparable. Yet, when the moment of truth arises, one of the boys will betray his friend to save his own skin.

Joe and Dean were guided by what they called the "Paradox Philosophy," which was a fancy way of saying that they wanted to turn "good into bad" and "right into wrong." They were evidently aware of the pitfalls of their reckless moral philosophy. Yet, in the end, Joe blames it all on "the town...which builds you up to tear you down."

By the "town," Joe was referring to the glamorous yet superficial side of Los Angeles that turned two energetic young men into a life of graft, fraud, thievery, lying, and murder. Joe even had a decent role model in his honest and decent father residing in the San Fernando Valley. Joe never followed the advice of his dad, and he now is sitting in the Pleasant Valley State Penitentiary as a lifer.

4/10 - incredible cast of some of my favorite young actors (Ansel Elgort, Emma Roberts, Taron Egerton),but the story falls short of expectations

It's 1983 L.A. While hustling cars to a rich client, Dean Karny (Taron Egerton) runs into former classmate Joe Hunt (Ansel Elgort). Neither were in the inner circle of the privileged set in the private L.A. Harvard School for Boys. Dean is the schmoozer and Joe is the poor scholarship outsider. Joe is a struggling analyst promoting his gold scheme to his superiors and Dean suggests starting their own company BBC. Dean introduces Joe to corrupt trader Ron Levin (Kevin Spacey). Through lies and gumption, Joe is able to recruit their rich former classmates and they recruit their rich fathers. Soon they are operating a multi-million dollar Ponzie scheme. Joe falls for Sydney Evans (Emma Roberts). It's a dog eat dog world and it all comes crashing down.

This was a real grind to watch. The low box office return has been blamed on the inclusion of Spacey. He's not why this is a grind to watch. He plays a sleaze and he's a real life sleaze. He actually fits and his scenes work as such. It's Ansel Elgort or more specifically, making Joe Hunt the central protagonist that is hard to take. He is not a compelling character. He is frustrating at times especially when the movie tries to make him a sympathetic character. It is infuriating. The better protagonist is Dean. He's the hustler. He doesn't have illusions of right and wrong. This is essentially Wolf of Wall Street with Belfort being relegated to a side character. It also doesn't help that the movie starts out through Dean's eyes and then switches to Joe. As for the real story this is based on, I wasn't prepared. I was expecting a simple arrest for fraud but it devolves into so much more. I needed a warning. I needed a foreshadowing scene in the opening. After hearing about the ridiculous box office, I wanted to check this out. The movie may not be historically bad but it got what it deserved.