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.

Two years ago in the midst of Covid-19, there were some crazy stories and things that people latched on to. Initially everybody was going daft for Joe Exotic, the Tiger King, but by early 2021 it was Wall Street Bets, GameStop and a movement that threatened to bring down some of the largest hedge funds in Wall Street. Just over two years later ‘Dumb Money’ has arrived, attempting to tell the story of how a YouTuber who went by the name of ‘Roaring Kitty’ (real name Keith Gill, played by Paul Dano) bought stocks in an old, physical gaming store at a very low price, which led to many of his followers doing the same and driving the price up immeasurably.

Post-2008 we’ve seen quite a lot of media focusing on the aftermath of the financial crash and the inner workings of financial markets, with movies such as ‘The Big Short’ helping your average person to understand a little about terms such as ‘bonds’, ‘shorting’ and ‘securities’. In the case of GameStop, Gill identified that the stock was being shorted (i.e. betting on it to fail) by a lot of large hedge funds and in his view it was undervalued, but even he couldn’t have anticipated just how much the little guy (the ‘Dumb Money’ of the title) could push back against Wall Street. The movie is directed by Craig Gillespie who previously helmed ‘I, Tonya’ and ‘Cruella’ and his pacy style is a perfect match for this entertaining story which feels like a snapshot into modern culture with its look at how social media and online forums can start to impact on real life discourse.

Gillespie tells his story through an ensemble cast that encompasses Gill, his family, several of his followers/investors and three hedge fund owners, who are spooked by the GameStop buying frenzy, and I felt this approach worked for the material. While Gill is the primary focus, it gives ‘Dumb Money’ greater scope by including a variety of people all caught up one way or another in the craze. As someone with a moderate interest in this topic, that peek under the covers of the internal workings of the market and how easily it can be manipulated is quite fascinating, so consider me a fan of ‘Dumb Money’ and I think it’ll entertain a lot of people over the next few weeks.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Craig Gillespie

Starring: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Seth Rogen, Dane DeHaan, Myha’la Herrold, Rushi Kota and Talia Ryder

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt13957560/