Dumb Money movie review: Concentrates on the money trail and forgets the craft

Pic/Poster

Cast: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio
Director: Craig Gillespie
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 105 mins

Dumb Money is based on the true story of everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich. And GameStop (the video game store) suddenly found itself catapulted into the world's hottest company. The event happened during Covid 2020 and it is still most talked about in august financial circles. This filmed version basically tries to immortalize the story of that David Vs Goliath face-off.

Based on the 2021 book The Antisocial Network by Ben Mezrich, Dumb Money has an ensemble cast that includes Paul Dano as Keith Gill, Shailene Woodley plays his wife, Caroline Gill, and Pete Davidson plays his brother, Kevin.

The narrative is far too matter-of-fact and minimalist in its evocation of those high-tension days. Keith Gill is the financial underdog here and you can't but help root for him. Better known as Roaring Kitty, an unknown on the Reddit channel wallstreetbets, he is the one who orchestrated the short squeeze against GameStop. Unfortunately, the telling of it is so flat and uninteresting that it doesn't feel inspirational enough. There are a few humorous moments, but the writing takes for granted that you know enough about the stock market to enjoy the highs and lows this movie takes you through. Since it's the good guys who eventually triumph here, there's not much edginess ( eg: ‘Wall Street') to be had.

There's no intensity to be had in this drama where Billions of dollars were literally at stake and Fortunes were gained or lost in seconds. The use of actual online posts and memes as well as montages gives it a realistic feel but it does little to increment the interest or excitement though.

It's a decent take nevertheless and I am sure that those financial players who have not followed the International financial markets might show some interest in the film. It's the sheer blandness of the telling that frustrates the average viewer though. The true story of The GameStop shares - how everyday people, detached from Wall Street turned the tables on the establishment, is worthy of a better movie no doubt.

Will Bates' score lends the narrative an invigorating vibe. The writing though is incessantly preachy and shallow. There are no explanations or details to be had here. And character arcs are definitely missing. The miserly narrative also doesn't have the style to make it compulsively watchable.

The moments of humor are few, the characters though decently-written lack depth and the visuals just pass you by without registering. This is definitely not a film that will draw you in with its storytelling craft. If at all it does, it would be because of the subject matter and the interest you have in it!