An outrageous true story has been brought to life with one of the most star-studded casts of the year. Dumb Money stars Paul Dano as Keith Gill, an investor known to his fans as DeepFuckingValue and Roaring Kitty.
We follow a group of investors who worship Gill as he analyzes GameStop stock. He soon finds himself becoming richer and richer while the hedge fund managers become poorer and poorer. Craig Gillespie, director of I, Tonya and Cruella, helms a serviceable film that expertly recounts a modern-day miracle.
It’s interesting to see such a recent event get adapted into a movie. While many historical events take a few years to get adapted, Dumb Money takes us all the way back to… 2021. Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, this is an event that everyone who watches the film was alive for (unless you decide to take your infant to this rated-R movie).
The screenplay from Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo caters a lot to people who remember the real-life event, as well as those who participated in it. To those who are unfamiliar with the event, they may find themselves in for a few surprises with how this played out.
Dumb Money is a decent enough film, but the main draw of the film is the star-studded cast. Dano has been consistently transforming into vastly different roles for many years. He proves time and time again to be a chameleon in Hollywood. I don’t think one ever expected Pete Davidson to be acting across from Dano, but the pair play brothers. Davidson provides some loudmouthed comic relief that hits more often than it misses. Anthony Ramos brings in all the charisma we’re used to as Marcus, a store clerk at GameStop. He has an effortless presence to him that makes you believe in him as a character.
Vincent D’Onofrio, Sebastian Stan, Nick Offerman, and Seth Rogen all have interesting roles as critical pieces of the puzzle. They play real-life antagonists with a lot of sincerity, never going overboard. (Even as Rogen’s character yells over the phone that he needs a neighboring house renovated so that he can install a tennis court closer to his home.) Dumb Money also brings in America Ferrera from Barbie and Dane DeHaan from Oppenheimer to fill out a star-studded cast that not many are talking about. Ferrera is superb as usual, while DeHaan’s commitment to being a straight-laced GameStop manager is hilariously effective.
Myha’la Herrold and Talia Ryder also provide a few wonderful moments. Shailene Woodley’s performance is great, but she does not have enough on the page to really stand out amongst the rest of these actors. The decision to feature an ensemble cast rather than just a few characters is an exceptional choice. We get the chance to see how many different people from different walks of life react to the same event. While Dumb Money does not lean into the craziness as much as it should, nor does the screenplay feel like it’s building to anything too specific, the absurdity of that real-life story is wonderful. Furthermore, everything gets brought down to earth with the very real struggles that people like Ferrera’s character go through.
There is much to enjoy about a movie where the rich get their asses handed to them. But a flaccid script and pacing problems hamper the overall experience. There’s a much better version of Dumb Money out there in some alternate universe, but for now, this will do. After all, like Keith Gill said, I like the stock.
SCORE: 6/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 6 equates to “Decent.” It fails to reach its full potential and is a run-of-the-mill experience.
