Dumb Money (2023)

Craig Gillespie's new film stars Paul Dano as Keith Gill, aka 'Roaring Kitty', the man who took on Wall Street by purchasing huge amounts of GameStop stock, (a struggling chain of US video games stores) eventually leading to the democratisation of the stock market. It's a tale of anti-establishment, the nerdy YouTuber and Reddit poster who inspired a flood of money towards the stock of GameStop that resulted in horrific financial implications for multi-billion dollar hedge funds, and Gillespie tells it with punchy panache; this is a director who's no stranger to an effective black comedy of course, his 2018 film I, Tonya, played fast and loose with the truth in telling the story of ice skater Tonya Harding. We're on similar docu-fiction ground here, frequently treated to news footage of the events (it unfolded during lockdown in 2020-2021) as well as swiftly flicking to a host of contrasting characters who all have more to lose as they becomes more and more invested in the unfolding sensation. We're also treated to another effective straight-up performance from Seth Rogan as an increasingly panicked Wall Streeter; after his display earlier this year in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans, he once again proves that he's capable of much more than just comedic pratfalls. Paul Dano is predictably effective as Keith, nicely supported by Shailene Woodley as his wife, and Pete Davidson as his brother Kevin, and Gillespie offers enough explanation with regards to Wall Street jargon to keep the uninitiated on board; although watching the film with two Reddit users, it was clear that many references simply went completely over my head whilst they cackled like hyenas. It might well be that you get more from this if you know the story and were following the phenomenon as it unfolded, but like Adam McKay's The Big Short (2015), Dumb Money is pitched effectively to haul in the average viewer with its style, and keeps you entertained whilst it tells you an astonishing tale that, in the end, probably wasn't as groundbreaking as it felt three years ago, with the stock market predictably adjusting to ensure that the little guy won't be able to pull this off ever again. 7.1/10