Directed By Craig Gillespie

Starring – Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio

The Plot – 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 into the world’s hottest company. In the middle of everything is regular guy Keith Gill (Dano), who starts it all by sinking his life savings into the stock and posting about it. When his social posts start blowing up, so does his life and the lives of everyone following him. As a stock tip becomes a movement, everyone gets rich, until the billionaires fight back, and both sides find their worlds turned upside down.

Rated R for pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use

POSITIVES

Very few films cleverly or concisely illustrate the sociological and economical disconnect between the classes, but “Dumb Money” makes the most of its opportunity by conveying a larger-than-life story set at the apex of the Covid-19 disaster, with an already politically divided country cut in half by the upper class and their need to fix the system in their favor. It starts with this impressively clever script from Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, who not only value humor and personality to the appeal of the characters and lunacy of the situations, but also three-dimensional characterization to its ensemble study, which makes it all the easier to invest in the plights of our protagonists. The humor itself is mostly effective without undercutting the ominous tension that surrounds the situation, and when combined with dialogue that meets the audience at eye level for stock market lingo, without downright holding their hand through it, makes it all the easier for an idiot like me to remain gripped and knowledgeable throughout the many story beats that the script continuously takes us through. In addition to this dazzling duo, Gillespie once again supplants the same kind of expressive emphasis that made his film “I,Tonya” such a mainstream success, but this time with the benefit of a hip-hop soundtrack and meme culture converging for a one-two punch of personality that is infectiously appealing. Instead of tired musical montages summarizing a Summer of insights, Gillespie uses Tik-Tok trend videos, Facebook posts, and Reddit comment boards to articulate the collective emotions of the real world, most of whom invested as a result of Gill’s advice, and then found themselves shunned by a game where the rich make the rules. The expressive visuals materialize cleverly enough without distracting from the aspects that they’re outlining, and Gillespie himself responsibly conveys the risks and dangers of investing in such a trade, which could come across as influential in the wrong kind of hands. The production is also aided by sharply edgy editing techniques, which add emphasis to the benefit of these events unfolding in real time, as well as a complex cinematography from Nicholas Karakatsanis, who colorfully divides the respective classes with lightly airy (Wealthy) and coldly damp (Poor) correction work, which is even inserted audibly during an interview scene, where Seth Rogen’s Gabe Plotkin is told about colors generating preconditioned feelings in the minds of the audience he’s speaking to. Speaking of Rogen, the performances are exceptional across the board, leading to what just might be my favorite collective ensemble of the entire year. It starts with Dano, who once more transforms himself, this time into the every man, Keith, with bumbling awkwardness that feels giftwrapped for social media personalities. He’s met by Rogen and Sebastian Stan, whom each naturally conjure a duo of coldly calculated and unforgiving personalities, which feel effortlessly accurate not only to the way the upper class views their oppositions, but also for how out of touch with reality each of them are with how their actions hold an even greater reaction when trying to communicate with the outside world. Finally, Pete Davidson, whom I normally can’t stand, is ideal for his role as Keith’s dysfunctional brother Kevin, charming the material with these picture perfect deliveries that go miles in frequently breaking the ice during these tense interactions, all the while never making him feel annoying by one-dimensional repetition that has plagued my opinion of his work. The chemistry between he and Dano feels naturally lived-in and made all the more endearing because the two feel closer as the world surrounding them feel more distant from a pandemic, especially in them putting the pieces back together after an untimely tragedy in their family has left them reeling.

NEGATIVES

While the movie’s 99 minute run time never stalls or overstays its welcome, there is a feeling to my interpretation that makes me wish this script was made for a streaming series, especially during a third act climax that rushes through some of the more dramatic beats, with very little time spent within the plights of our respective protagonists. Part of this problem certainly lends itself to the conflict itself not materializing until there is a half hour remaining in the experience, but for my money the bigger issue is with Gillespie’s only mistake feeling like he restrained the extensive magnitude of the conflict so it didn’t saturate the strength of his expressive humor, which clearly feels like it takes top billing here. As previously conveyed, the tension is still very much there in scenes that are underlined with a darkly ominous cloud continuously hanging over those who drove the stock up, but their consequences are merely only met with throwaway dialogue that would be much stronger felt with actual visual proof of their plunder, giving us a greater sense of the stakes, which isn’t always relegated to just money, but rather the innocent people surrounding these risk takers who see their futures blown up in an instant. Beyond this, my only other issue with the film pertains to its musical score from Will Bates, which audibly brings “Dumb Money” closer to the film it obviously draws inspiration from, but for all of the wrong reasons. While it’s clear that the film is going for vibes from “The Social Network”, especially with themes so precisely on-the-nose to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ piano-driven cues, the compositions from Bates never find their own kind of originality, undercutting the capabilities of the composer, while frequently depositing my attention to a film that I’m not even watching.

Directed By Craig Gillespie

Starring – Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio

The Plot – 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 into the world’s hottest company. In the middle of everything is regular guy Keith Gill (Dano), who starts it all by sinking his life savings into the stock and posting about it. When his social posts start blowing up, so does his life and the lives of everyone following him. As a stock tip becomes a movement, everyone gets rich, until the billionaires fight back, and both sides find their worlds turned upside down.

Rated R for pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use

DUMB MONEY – Official Trailer (HD) – YouTube

POSITIVES

Very few films cleverly or concisely illustrate the sociological and economical disconnect between the classes, but “Dumb Money” makes the most of its opportunity by conveying a larger-than-life story set at the apex of the Covid-19 disaster, with an already politically divided country cut in half by the upper class and their need to fix the system in their favor. It starts with this impressively clever script from Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, who not only value humor and personality to the appeal of the characters and lunacy of the situations, but also three-dimensional characterization to its ensemble study, which makes it all the easier to invest in the plights of our protagonists. The humor itself is mostly effective without undercutting the ominous tension that surrounds the situation, and when combined with dialogue that meets the audience at eye level for stock market lingo, without downright holding their hand through it, makes it all the easier for an idiot like me to remain gripped and knowledgeable throughout the many story beats that the script continuously takes us through. In addition to this dazzling duo, Gillespie once again supplants the same kind of expressive emphasis that made his film “I,Tonya” such a mainstream success, but this time with the benefit of a hip-hop soundtrack and meme culture converging for a one-two punch of personality that is infectiously appealing. Instead of tired musical montages summarizing a Summer of insights, Gillespie uses Tik-Tok trend videos, Facebook posts, and Reddit comment boards to articulate the collective emotions of the real world, most of whom invested as a result of Gill’s advice, and then found themselves shunned by a game where the rich make the rules. The expressive visuals materialize cleverly enough without distracting from the aspects that they’re outlining, and Gillespie himself responsibly conveys the risks and dangers of investing in such a trade, which could come across as influential in the wrong kind of hands. The production is also aided by sharply edgy editing techniques, which add emphasis to the benefit of these events unfolding in real time, as well as a complex cinematography from Nicholas Karakatsanis, who colorfully divides the respective classes with lightly airy (Wealthy) and coldly damp (Poor) correction work, which is even inserted audibly during an interview scene, where Seth Rogen’s Gabe Plotkin is told about colors generating preconditioned feelings in the minds of the audience he’s speaking to. Speaking of Rogen, the performances are exceptional across the board, leading to what just might be my favorite collective ensemble of the entire year. It starts with Dano, who once more transforms himself, this time into the every man, Keith, with bumbling awkwardness that feels giftwrapped for social media personalities. He’s met by Rogen and Sebastian Stan, whom each naturally conjure a duo of coldly calculated and unforgiving personalities, which feel effortlessly accurate not only to the way the upper class views their oppositions, but also for how out of touch with reality each of them are with how their actions hold an even greater reaction when trying to communicate with the outside world. Finally, Pete Davidson, whom I normally can’t stand, is ideal for his role as Keith’s dysfunctional brother Kevin, charming the material with these picture perfect deliveries that go miles in frequently breaking the ice during these tense interactions, all the while never making him feel annoying by one-dimensional repetition that has plagued my opinion of his work. The chemistry between he and Dano feels naturally lived-in and made all the more endearing because the two feel closer as the world surrounding them feel more distant from a pandemic, especially in them putting the pieces back together after an untimely tragedy in their family has left them reeling.

NEGATIVES

While the movie’s 99 minute run time never stalls or overstays its welcome, there is a feeling to my interpretation that makes me wish this script was made for a streaming series, especially during a third act climax that rushes through some of the more dramatic beats, with very little time spent within the plights of our respective protagonists. Part of this problem certainly lends itself to the conflict itself not materializing until there is a half hour remaining in the experience, but for my money the bigger issue is with Gillespie’s only mistake feeling like he restrained the extensive magnitude of the conflict so it didn’t saturate the strength of his expressive humor, which clearly feels like it takes top billing here. As previously conveyed, the tension is still very much there in scenes that are underlined with a darkly ominous cloud continuously hanging over those who drove the stock up, but their consequences are merely only met with throwaway dialogue that would be much stronger felt with actual visual proof of their plunder, giving us a greater sense of the stakes, which isn’t always relegated to just money, but rather the innocent people surrounding these risk takers who see their futures blown up in an instant. Beyond this, my only other issue with the film pertains to its musical score from Will Bates, which audibly brings “Dumb Money” closer to the film it obviously draws inspiration from, but for all of the wrong reasons. While it’s clear that the film is going for vibes from “The Social Network”, especially with themes so precisely on-the-nose to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ piano-driven cues, the compositions from Bates never find their own kind of originality, undercutting the capabilities of the composer, while frequently depositing my attention to a film that I’m not even watching.

OVERALL
“Dumb Money” is another absurdly insane true story of contemporary class warfare, this time set at the heights of Covid-19 paranoia and financial plunder. While the film’s brief runtime limits the extent of its exploration, Gillespie and company take the film to the moon while conjuring an irresistibly charming and creatively boisterous presentation, with meaningful performances in spades that articulate the heroic and heartless of 21st century capitalism.

My Grade: 8/10 or A-

My Grade: 8/10 or A-