Dumb Money

Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Myha'la Herrold, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Seth Rogen, Talia Ryder, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Kate Burton, Clancy Brown, Dane DeHaan, Olivia Thirlby, Deniz Akdeniz
Running Time: 104 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★) 

If The Social Network and The Big Short had a baby, you'd think it would probably resemble Craig Gillespie's Dumb Money, which begins hecticly, with numerous characters, real news footage, viral videos and a plot that seems destined to be more convoluted than necessary. But this adaptation of Ben Mezrich's bestseller detailing the infamous GameStop stock squeeze has a method of delivery we haven't exactly seen yet. A full-blown 2021 period piece, it succeeds by immersing viewers in the chaotic headspace of its players during that challenging year. It's the film's ace in the hole, dropping us in an easily recognizable universe that still feels jarring despite its recency.

Gillespie and writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo clear a high creative hurdle by framing this very specific event in a larger context, with those involved becoming inseparable from the madness surrounding them. Even when taking wild detours, it really grows on you, picking up steam by balancing some clever laughs with dramatic heart. But unlike the aforementioned Big Short, this doesn't assume audiences won't get it, instead telling an easily digestible story that works regardless of how familiar you are with the intricacies of what actually happened. And at its center is a likably eccentric Paul Dano performance that earns respect and sympathy for the brainy instigator behind this financial hysteria.

It's June 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when Massachusetts-based financial analyst Keith Gill (Dano) streams his stock market picks on YouTube under the name "Roaring Kitty" and posts on the WallStreetBets subreddit. After noticing the drop in fledgling video game retailer GameStop's stock, Keith pours all his savings into it, drawing eye rolls from his underachieving brother Kevin (Pete Davidson) and colleague Briggsy (Deniz Akdeniz). But assuming the chain will close, hedge fund firms like Gabe Plotkin's (Seth Rogen) have been short selling the stock, causing a price increase, as Keith's online followers pounce and start buying. 

Those buyers include financially struggling nurse Jennifer (America Ferrera), lesbian college couple Riri (Myha'la Herrold) and Harmony (Talia Ryder) and GameStop employee Marcos (Anthony Ramos). With the stock continuing to rise and investment CEOs losing millions by the day, Wall Street and the entire country take notice, with Keith emerging as a middle class hero to the masses. Scraping by to help provide for his wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley) and newborn baby, selling at the right time could make him a millionaire, but that becomes complicated when influential financial firms and the government start to catch on.

The film opens with a bang before going backwards, showing how this cat-obsessed vlogger rides a hunch based on experience and knowledge, in the process accomplishing what no one else was crazy enough to try. While you can quibble with how the script depicts him as a clueless nerd who stumbles onto a plan that was probably more calculated in reality, Dano's so engaging in the role it hardly matters. Once he was cast, it had to go in this direction, as the actor so accurately channels the type of quirky, painfully honest personality that catches fire on social media. 

Gillespsie's recreations of the headband, tie dye wearing Keith's videos are rivaled only by his take on the guru's loyal subscribers, who we follow through a series of individual side stories, none of which get the short shrift. They're all either financially struggling, excited about the risk or looking to screw over these greedy CEOs. Once this crack in the system is exploited, legal questions arise, as do ethical ones related to the tactics of Rogen, Nick Offerman and Vincent D'Onofrio's billionaires. They arguably opened the door for this and the eventual damage inflicted by Robinhood's shady chairman Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan), whose attempts to stop the bleeding land him in the government's crosshairs.

Much of the film's immediacy stems from its pandemic timeline, allowing the opportunity to capture these working people struggling in a stressed economy they're on the bottom rung of. But unlike other projects that very reluctantly covered the era with kid gloves, this has the conviction to visualize its effect on everyday life, masks and all. Scenes with the buyers play almost as episodic vignettes with Gillespie jumping from one character to the next, each bringing a different energy that helps unify the plot. 

As an essential worker at the end of her rope, America Ferrera might be even better here than in Barbie while Anthony Ramos' GameStop employee brings the laughs in a hilarious ongoing feud with his passive aggressive supervisor played by Dane DeHaan. Pete Davidson also knows exactly what to do, when, and how much as Keith's loud, irritating freeloader of a brother. At the other end of the spectrum is the latter's supportive but realistic wife Caroline, who Shailene Woodley plays with pragmatic perfection, offering up a necessary dose of reasonableness.  

There's a big speech lifted from Keith's actual hearing testimony that hits its mark in the final act and Dano's delivery makes it soar, driving home the point they were all cheating a rigged a game. Incorporating actual news footage, real message board posts and memes throughout, it's fun anticipating what happens to everyone involved, mainly because they all have such different endings, a few more favorable than others.

Those completely unaware or uninterested in the stock market can not only follow this, but should be hooked, knowing it touches on something bigger and more relatable than dollars and cents. Investment firms may have considered the general public "dumb money," but Gillespie's film is anything but, proving that whatever creative liberties taken resulted in a more entertaining version of actual events.