‘Dumb Money’ Review: Paul Dano Outsmarts Seth Rogen In Hilarious And Smart Movie On The GameStop Stock Phenomenon – Toronto Film Festival – Deadline
It’s only acceptable that Sony’s terrific new comedy Dumb Cash begins with the Columbia Photos emblem. That was the studio that Frank Capra famously helped construct together with his films the place the little man triumphs over the company unhealthy guys. Dumb Cash is positively Capra-esque in the way in which it tells its unbelievable David vs. Goliath story about how an web geek began a motion that blew up the heretofore loser inventory of shopping center recreation retailer GameStop and have become the toast of Wall Avenue, whereas bankrupting a few billionaire hedge funds within the course of. It film had its world premiere tonight on the Toronto Movie Competition earlier than its theatrical launch later this month.
On its most elementary degree, Dumb Cash hits on the monetary frustrations of on a regular basis People fed up with the billionaire class, and dreaming of a fantasy to get wealthy fast themselves. This phenomenon that took the monetary world without warning solely began firstly of 2021, however for a time it turned the markets the wrong way up and adjusted plenty of lives. As one analyst stated, “it’s the French Revolution of Wall Avenue.”
Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Lars and the Actual Lady) clearly loves offbeat tales and he has one right here because of a terrific forged of characters and a pointy script by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, two former Wall Avenue Journal reporters who solely began the script in April and Could of 2021, basing it on a ebook proposal for The Delinquent Community by Ben Mezrich, whose earlier work turned the premise for the Oscar-winning The Social Community.
On the film’s heart is Keith Gill (aka Roaring Kitty), a lowly Boston monetary analyst by day who presides over an web present in his house the place he likes to speak in nerdy methods (sporting a purple bandana and kitties T-Shirt) about numerous issues taking place in shares. At some point he reveals he put $55,000 into the shedding GameStop inventory simply because he thinks it’s means undervalued and loves it. So, it’s a ardour mission, however one which because of the attain of the web instantly catches hearth and turns into a giant concern finally for the hedge funds which have shorted the inventory. Chief amongst these is Melvin Capital, run by Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen), who believes since anybody can obtain video games, the mall retailer is a dinosaur and the corporate is certain to go below, so he pours cash into shorting it, which means he’s betting on a fail. His billionaire supporters Ken Griffin (a hilarious Nick Offerman) and Steve Cohen (Vincent D’Onofrio) agree as they sit of their mansions.
Don’t underestimate the facility of the little man in giant numbers, although; quickly the GameStop inventory is exploding to extraordinary numbers, one thing that solely will increase when the Robinhood app run by Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan) will get concerned by fueling the rise in making the inventory inexpensive for these “retail” patrons Wall Avenue so appears to be like down on, calling it “dumb cash” vs their “good cash.” All of the networks begin paying consideration and it turns into a real nationwide phenomenon, even to the purpose of getting the intense consideration of the White Home and Congress. What a narrative. What a wildly entertaining, stand-up-and-cheer populist film. Capra would find it irresistible.
Dumb Cash is a cinematic cousin of films like The Social Community, The Large Brief and Moneyball, however it stands aside from these by throwing in an emotional element and massive coronary heart. It additionally has a lot in widespread structurally with an rising style in 2023: the so-called product film, which tracks the beginnings, the rises and generally the falls of well-known entities. We now have had Air, Tetris, Flamin’ Scorching, BlackBerry, The Beanie Bubble, and now Dumb Cash with its personal twist on GameStop. Every of those films is anchored by a down-on-their-luck true believer who hits the zeitgeist in a technique or one other, however finds bother alongside the way in which.
The casting couldn’t be higher. Dano is good as Gill, a unusual man to root for who represents what we as soon as regarded as the custodian of the American Dream, a new-age Jimmy Stewart. Rogen is a riot as a hedge-fund manipulator who slowly watches his life cross earlier than his eyes because the inventory goes up, not down. Among the many remainder of the forged, Shailene Woodley is gorgeous as Gill’s spouse who has lived together with his all-consuming obsession with GameStop; America Ferrera as Jenny, a Pittsburgh nurse and true-blue follower of Gill’s each transfer; Anthony Ramos as Marcus, a GameStop clerk who finds the ticket to much more than his base wage standing behind the money register; and Pete Davidson as Kevin, Keith’s reasonably dimwitted however loving brother.
What is actually outstanding about Dumb Cash is the tempo of manufacturing, nearly facet by facet with altering occasions on this planet during which it’s set. Shot in 31 days, the film might be in theaters simply over two years since a script was turned in. That’s outstanding as a result of this isn’t some low-cost, ripped-from-the-headlines quickie, however a top-quality movie its main studio is planning a big awards-season marketing campaign round. It deserves that consideration, and it deserves your consideration for a real and good crowd pleaser this fall.
Producers are Aaron Ryder, Teddy Schwartzman and Gillespie. By the way in which, these twins from Social Community, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and their Winklevoss Photos shingle, are among the many government producers.
Title: Dumb Cash
Distributor: Sony Photos
Competition: Toronto Movie Competition (Gala Displays)
Launch date: September 15, 2023 (Restricted); September 29, 2023 (huge)
Director: Craig Gillespie
Screenwriters: Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo
Forged: Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson, Shailene Woodley, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan
Operating time: 1 hr 40 min
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