‘Dumb Money’ Review: Paul Dano and Pete Davidson in Craig Gillespie’s Entertaining GameStop Stock Comedy – Hollywood Reporter

Films in regards to the monetary markets inevitably have the identical downside. It merely isn’t that visually compelling watching individuals stare at their computer systems or telephones and muttering expletives. Adam McKay’s The Large Brief managed to keep away from the pitfall because of its really memorable characters and such stylistic prospers as having Margot Robbie clarify difficult monetary ideas on to the digicam whereas lounging in a tub.

Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Cash, in regards to the 2021 GameStop inventory phenomenon fueled by particular person traders pushed by social media, doesn’t show fairly as profitable. Nonetheless, the movie receiving its world premiere on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition proves entertaining sufficient, because of its canny screenplay relating the story as a Frank Capra-style battle between the little individuals and the wealthy bigwigs hoisted by their very own petards, and the enjoyable performances by a terrific ensemble.  

Based mostly on Ben Mezrich’s guide The Delinquent Community (enjoyable truth: among the many movie’s producers are Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, whom you’ll keep in mind from The Social Community), Dumb Cash revolves round Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a small-time monetary analyst who precipitated the occasions along with his YouTube movies as “Roaring Kitty” and his Reddit postings beneath the username “DeepFuckingValue” touting GameStop inventory. The notion appeared fully counterintuitive, for the reason that online game retailer was shedding cash hand over foot and its quickly declining inventory had been shorted by quite a few hedge funds, together with Melvin Capital head Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen, taking part in considerably towards sort).

Gill’s enthusiastic cheerleading for the inventory struck a chord amongst small traders, who poured cash into it to such an extent that it started rising dramatically. Very dramatically, with Gill’s unique $53,000 funding, representing most of his life financial savings, rapidly escalating to $11 million. And it didn’t cease there, with each rising valuation of the GameStop shares leading to pleasure among the many new traders and extreme agita amongst such monetary titans as Steve Cohen (Vincent D’Onofrio), Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman) and Vlad Temev (Sebastian Stan), whose buying and selling app Robinhood performed a pivotal position.

The movie shifts its focus amongst: Gill and his household, together with his supportive spouse (Shailene Woodley), underachieving brother (Pete Davidson, scoring massive laughs) and completely befuddled mother and father (Kate Burton, Clancy Brown); the wealthy Wall Road guys eyeing the quickly altering developments with disbelief and horror; and a number of other of the small-time traders using the wave and desperately attempting to determine if and when they need to promote. The final group features a single-mother nurse (America Ferrera) struggling financially, a pair of school college students (Myha’la Herrold, Talia Ryder) buried beneath debt, and a retail GameStop worker (Anthony Ramos) who nonetheless believes within the product.

It’s an advanced story, principally instructed with readability — if inevitably simplified — with the filmmaker doing his greatest to enliven the proceedings with such stylistic units as onscreen graphics detailing the online price of the foremost characters (a number of the traders are within the detrimental vary). He additionally makes liberal use of tv information clips that includes such recognizable faces as Jim Cramer and Andrew Ross Sorkin, in addition to Stephen Colbert speaking in regards to the phenomenon in his personal inimitable type. When Gill and the hedge fund billionaires are compelled to testify earlier than Congress (remotely, because the movie’s occasions happen in the course of the top of the COVID disaster), we see such real-life politicians as Maxine Waters and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez intercut with the actors.

One of many movie’s issues is that, aside from Gill and his brother, whose combative however loving relationship is amusingly depicted, the movie’s characters stay principally one-dimensional, reacting to the inventory’s ups and downs with both pleasure or despair, and often shock. A prolonged montage that includes every of them observing their respective screens and loudly uttering “Holy fuck!” typifies the strategy, and regardless of the movie’s quick pacing and rapid-fire enhancing it will definitely wears skinny.

Nonetheless, it’s a compelling story instructed in largely participating style, anchored by Dano’s terrific flip because the eccentric, strong-willed Gill, who turns into an unlikely people hero. Dumb Cash (the title refers back to the funds invested out there by particular person traders) ought to ring a bell with individuals fascinated by the monetary world, which appears just about everybody as of late. As no much less an esteemed determine than Anthony Scaramucci places it in one of many clips proven, this chain of occasions was “the French Revolution of finance,” and it’s enjoyable watching the peasants win for a change.