Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Paul Dano, Shailene Woodley, Pete Davidson, Clancy Brown, Nick Offerman, Seth Rogen, Vincent D'Onofrio, Talia Ryder, Sebastian Stan, America Ferrara, Dane DeHaan, Myha'la Herrold, Anthony Ramos, Kate Burton
Dumb Money comes from the director of the brilliant, funny, and inspired I, Tonya (2016) which reached a fever pitch with its lunacy. Dumb Money never reaches I,Tonya's level. It has moments of inspiration, but is mostly flat, and in the end while we're supposed to be cheering the fact that hedge fund billionaires take a hit in the public eye and the wallet, it doesn't last long. We find ourselves acknowledging this footnote in recent market history and move on without really being much moved.
Dumb Money begins in the middle of the 2020 COVID pandemic with financial analyst Keith Gill (Dano), a regular guy with a regular job and a family who sees the hidden value in GameStop stock, which hedge fund managers like Gabe Plotkin (Rogen) short in order to make beaucoup dollars when the stock tanks. Keith's social media posts pumping up GameStop's stocks cause other working-class people to sink their savings (however miniscule) into the stock and then watch the price skyrocket beyond Wall Street's meager expectations. GameStop was expected to start closing its stores, but Keith gave them new life.
The term "dumb money" isn't related to stupid money, which is what everyone in Dumb Money hopes to make, but is instead a derogatory term for common people who play the stock market without the so-called knowledge the "experts" have. Dumb Money argues that the entire market is a crapshoot, and the amateurs outplayed the hedge fund managers at their own game, which led to Wall Street fighting back and attempting to shut down Keith's site, which grown exponentially in popularity as his viewers get rich off of GameStop.
I couldn't help but think of The Big Short (2015) while watching Dumb Money, and how its socially awkward hedge fund manager Dr. Michael Burry (Bale) shorted the housing market and anyone who followed made stupid money as the economy crashed in 2008. The Big Short was better, mostly because of its standout performances and its pointed satire, plus it used celebrity cameos to explain the stock market lexicon to the lay viewer. Dumb Money has its satirical moments and its performances work, but it never truly crosses over into greatness.
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