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Dumb Money is the term given for individual investors buying stock in a company, in case you’re wondering… as I was, but this does get spelled out along the way.
Taking the lead in this fact-based comedy/drama is Paul Dano (The Fabelmans) as Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty – the accidental influencer who made a mint out of Gamestop shares… and not that Youtube clown, Smash JT, who also tried to get in on the act for the clicks.
As the film begins, we’re introducted to a number of potential investors, as well as bigwigs, the latter of whom have millions or billions of net worth, while the average Joes who are worth precious little, including Gamestop employee Marcus Barcia (Anthony Ramos – Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and two broke girls, Riri (Myha’la) and Harmony Williams (Talia Ryder).
After a brief introduction to everyone, the film goes back to six months earlier, when Keith – who’s only worth $97,000 at the start – buys $50k worth of Gamestop stock – and as we know, it starts shooting up.
At the time of watching this, I didn’t realise that its oft-used term “Tendyman” is, according to the Urban Dictionary, another word for “nice guy”. However, “Tendieman” is someone who has a passion for Chicken Tenders – aka Tendies – and Keith does. It goes on to describe them as someone who “usually lives in his Mom’s basement, and is known for placing risky bets on Robinhood using his stimulus checks (benefit payments)”. Well, Keith is in the basement when he does his livestreams, but doesn’t live on welfare.
Dumb Money is all about shorting stock, which one character likens to pyramid selling; and to ‘short’ a stock means to bet against it. I don’t fully understand the process, but in following the stories of everyone who’s investing, this all makes for a very engaging film.
Plus, Dano makes for a brilliant lead. However, kudos to every member of the cast in this film, as everyone’s on top form, especially Sebastian Stan (Ghosted) as Vlad Tenev, entrepreneur and co-CEO of Robinhood, and Dane DeHaan (Oppenheimer) as Marcus’ dour boss, Brad.
Dumb Money is in cinemas now, and isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 105 minutes
Release date: September 22nd 2023
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (ARRIRAW (4.5K))
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 8/10
Director: Craig Gillespie
Producers: Craig Gillespie, Aaron Ryder, Teddy Schwarzman
Screenplay: Lauren Schuker Blum, Rebecca Angelo
Novel: Ben Mezrich (The Antisocial Network)
Music: Will Bates
Cast:
Keith Gill: Paul Dano
Kevin Gill: Pete Davidson
Steve Cohen: Vincent D’Onofrio
Jenny: America Ferrera
Riri: Myha’la
Harmony Williams: Talia Ryder
Ken Griffin: Nick Offerman
Marcus Barcia: Anthony Ramos
Gabe Plotkin: Seth Rogen
Vlad Tenev: Sebastian Stan
Caroline Gill: Shailene Woodley
Elaine Gill: Kate Burton
Steve Gill: Clancy Brown
Baiju Bhatt: Rushi Kota
Chris: Larry Owens
Brad: Dane DeHaan
Yaara Plotkin: Olivia Thirlby
Roommate: Andrea Simons
Axl Campbell: Noel Tyler Torres
Beau Campbell: Nicolas Calero
Marco’s Father: Gerardo Rodriguez
Marco’s Mother: Rosalie Berrido
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.