Dumb Money (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – Dumb Money is the ultimate David vs. Goliath tale, based on the insane true story of everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich by turning GameStop (yes, the mall videogame store) into the world’s hottest company.

My Take – One of the biggest reason the Adam McKay directed The Big Short (2015) found so much success, along with the other factors like the exceptional star-studded cast, is that it puts out all complex finance heavy talk out in layman terms, like by placing Margot Robbie in a bubble bath explaining mortgage-backed bonds, allowing people (like myself) to actually understand the proceedings on the screen.

An important aspect which many films dealing with the banking and financial industry ignore.

Something which thankfully, writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo understand as they chronicle the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021, about how everyday people, detached from Wall Street, turned the tables around, sending an earthquake through the establishment, while exposing the lie that is the free market.

Based on the 2021 book ‘The Antisocial Network’ by Ben Mezrich, this Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya; Cruella) directorial is a crowd-pleasing retelling of the event that makes light work of a difficult story, adding to Hollywood’s ongoing obsession with framing tech tales as Shakespearean dramas.

Packed with some incredible acting chops, this financial underdog film has moments of incredible humor it tells its cautionary tale. By opting for a minimalist and simple style, it lacks flashy visuals, but makes up for it in the storytelling department.

Yes, it borders on overwhelming itself with the sheer amount of characters, and any film that depicts Internet culture might struggle to reach a broader audience, but the strong narrative structure succeeds in keeping hooked from start to finish. Most importantly, it is really satisfying to watch ordinary people win in a system that’s rigged against them.

Beginning during the pandemic winter of 2021, the story follows Keith Gill (Paul Dano), an employee in a financial company who, in his spare time, gives stock market tips under the online monikers ‘Roaring Kitten’ and ‘Deep Fucking Value’, offering financial advice while dipping chicken tenders into a champagne glass.

Supported by his equally invested wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley), Keith starts telling his followers that short sellers have seriously undervalued stocks of the waning video game retailer, GameStop. With his balance sheet publicly available online and his daily analysis of the market next to it, and to put his money where his mouth is, Keith puts his entire savings into it.

Surprisingly, users on the social network site Reddit, and specifically the “subreddit” r/wallstreetbets, which merged memes and stock market analysis, suddenly begin buying up large numbers of shares driving up the company’s stock exponentially. Particularly with an intention to trigger a short squeeze, since hedge fund company Melvin Capital, and its founder Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen), aimed to profit if GameStop’s shares fell.

But when ordinary people like Jennifer Campbell (America Ferrera), a Pittsburgh nurse, Marcos (Anthony Ramos), a GameStop cashier, and two college students, Harmony (Talia Ryder) and Riri (Myha’la Herrold) with ever-increasing loans, end up buying the stocks on Keith’s advice, it rises ultimately to levels which don’t just ruin a few hedge funds that had bet on its shares shorting, but also invites a Congressional hearing that not only involves both Keith and Plotkin, but also Citadel CEO Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman), and the Robinhood co-founders (Sebastian Stan and Rushi Kota), and prime time media attention.

Director Craig Gillespie, who has carved out a nice niche for himself telling real-life tales with satirical verve and wit recognizes the absurdity of all this, and keeps things stylish, breezy and bold. It’s informative for those who have no knowledge about the stock market, is a hilarious comedy for those who may not find themselves interested in the numbers of it all, and most of all, it’s a great human story as well, about how the non-rich still have a fighting chance.

Sure, it is perilously close to being overstuffed, but a controlled and nimble script justifies the large ensemble, using each thread to quickly switch back and forth between the anger, ecstasy, disbelief and fear that seeped from conference to dorm room at the time.

Offering a more constructive view of class politics, with a rousing David and Goliath battle that is hard not to find involving. The film cashes in on this feel-good about the GameStop story, and the fact that at least this battle was won by the 99%, even if the 1% ultimately never lose. The film is a testament to the power of social media and the power of the internet to shape our understanding of the world.

This is a film that avoids excessive speeches about the evils of capitalism and maintains a fluid dramedy without resorting to melodrama. The story follows ordinary people drilling a hole in the dam that ancient institutions have erected, and the people are determined to continue their efforts.

Most importantly, it is practically impossible not to like the cast. Paul Dano‘s commitment to this nerdy and quirky real-life person is terrific, and shares an earnest chemistry with the always likable Shailene Woodley. Pete Davidson is the perfect comic relief and Sebastian Stan is ridiculously accurate to his real life counterpart all the way down to his enunciation. Seth Rogen and Nick Offerman are believable as the simply out of touch with reality billionaires.

Myha’la Herrold and Talia Ryder make for a winsome couple, while Anthony Ramos, America Ferrera and Larry Owens are compelling throughout. In small roles, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dane DeHaan, Rushi Kota, Kate Burton, Olivia Thirlby and Clancy Brown are also effective. On the whole, ‘Dumb Money’ is a fun financial romp that is both informative and hilarious.