Verdict
Summary
Based on the true story, Dumb Money is an informative biopic that can’t help but be funny, and because I’d only heard about the facts in a peripheral way I found the story to be fascinating, if a little inflated with the subplots of the average Joe and Jane investors and their stories.
Plot:
On his off time, a regular guy manages to inadvertently expose Wall Street for being a rigged system, and ends up getting rich as a result.
Review:
Keith Gill (Paul Dano) is a humble guy, just living his life with his wife (Shailene Woodley) and their baby, and after coming home from work each day from a bank he unwinds by vlogging about his interest in the stock market. As an experiment, he begins investing in a stock he likes, Game Stop. His followers take his lead and begin investing in Game Stop as well, and over the course of a couple of months, the stock’s value starts to rise. It gets to the point that the stock actually becomes valuable because he won’t shortsale the stock, and neither will his followers. Soon, the bigwigs who virtually control Wall Street take notice, and all of a sudden Gill’s resistance and refusal to sell his stock – along with his tens of thousands of followers who are sitting on a gold mine if they shortsale their bets – are turning the tables on Wall Street and the story becomes an instant phenomenon in the media. Now worth millions – tens of millions – their stock threatens to topple Wall Street’s billions (it’s complicated), and Gill suddenly has the power to lead a movement and take a stand against what is obviously a rigged system. To the media and the underdog investors all over the world Gill is a hero, but to the billionaires controlling the system, he is a villain that must be stopped.
Based on the true story, Dumb Money is an informative biopic that can’t help but be funny, and because I’d only heard about the facts in a peripheral way I found the story to be fascinating, if a little inflated with the subplots of the average Joe and Jane investors and their stories. I would’ve liked the movie even more if it hadn’t spent so much time on these subplots (I could care less about the nurse, the Game Stop employee, or the two lesbian college girls who invested), and the movie is at its most interesting when it focused on Gill and his family. Pete Davidson is a hoot as Gill’s loser brother, and Clancy Brown plays their dad. The side story of the big shot billionaires, played by Seth Rogeg and Nick Offerman are fine and necessary to the plot. Based on a book called “The Antisocial Network,” and directed by Craig Gillespie.
The Blu-ray edition comes with a digital code, plus deleted scenes, a commentary, and more. This will be available to own on December 12th.
