Dumb Money Review: Dumb (But Fun) Movie

Thanks to the influence of Adam McKay, we are now faced with a neverending onslaught of political dramedies taking relatively recent events in the world of finance and government and putting a Hollywood spin on them. "Dumb Money" is the latest of these, documenting the Reddit gambit that saw a group of intrepid internet warriors sending the price of GameStop stock skyrocketing, leaving traditional financiers baffled and scrambling to restore the status quo. It's zippy and well-paced, but it's hard not to feel like it's much less revolutionary and clever than it thinks it is. The events of "Dumb Money" happened literally two years ago, but some of the stylistic choices make the movie feel like it'll be dated in a matter of months. Furthermore, the fact that this is so recent — and was so heavily covered at the time — begs the question: What point does a film like this really serve?

It's the middle of the pandemic, and pretty much everyone needs a win. Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a financial analyst living a quiet life in the Boston suburbs with his wife (Shailene Woodley) and daughter, is no exception. But while his day job is fairly conventional, he moonlights as an internet finance guru, one who develops an unexpected following when he convinces masses of Redditors to invest in GameStop, a stock he is convinced is undervalued and being shorted by all the major financial institutions. To the shock of pretty much everyone in his life, he's right on the money, and what was initially a small brigade of internet warriors turns into an entire movement, sending GameStop stock through the roof. Suddenly, everyone who invested is riding high on the rapidly increasing stock prices. But the longer it lasts, the more they start to wonder if they should hold the line — hoping that GameStop will continue earning them money — or cash in their chips. And more importantly, will they even be able to make that decision for themselves, or will hedge fund managers kneecap them in an effort to regulate the market to their advantage?

"Dumb Money" features an energetic ensemble cast, led by Paul Dano as an unassuming internet pied piper. He brings a quiet intelligence — and yes, a certain dorkiness — that brings to life exactly the kind of person who would have an extremely niche internet following but could also be relied upon to know his stuff. Pete Davison is in his element as Keith's screw-up brother, showing an emotional range that makes it clear he should be utilized far more often in quirky supporting roles than headlining films.

Shailene Woodley is a cardboard cutout of a movie wife, written entirely to be supportive, sitting in the stairwell while Keith does the important things. The troupe of hedge fund owners scrambling to save their skins — Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, and Vincent D'Onofrio — are all appropriately slimy with the hearts of weasels, but they're not really given enough screen time to make much of an impression, with the possible exception of Rogen, who always seems to carve out space for himself in these types of biopics.

The biggest issue of "Dumb Money" is how heavily its dramatic arc relies upon the whole "should we sell or should we hold" thing. Over and over again we see scenes of Keith's faithful followers agonizing over what to do with their stocks, which ends up feeling like cheap, repetitive, manufactured drama. It doesn't quite do the job of making us invested in the plight of the little guy. Many of the characters who are framed as loyal to the extent of being practically heroic — America Ferrera chief among them, a struggling nurse with two kids who stubbornly holds onto a tanking GameStop stock out of devotion to a guy from Reddit — can be difficult to emotionally connect with. At the film's heart, it tries to paint these people as intrepid financial warriors sticking it to Wall Street, but at the same time, it's frustrating to watch them be filled with righteous indignation because they gambled on stocks and things didn't necessarily turn out the way they were hoping. There's a sense of naivety that masquerades as nobility, which weakens the emotional impact of the film.

Still, "Dumb Money" is a fun movie to watch; it delivers all the information about the GameStop stock phenomenon in an easily digestible format with plenty of good humor. It touches on the battle between the financial elite and individual investors, a conflict that essentially revolves around a perceived knowledge gap, one that Wall Street purposefully exploits to its benefit. But there's something about this story — maybe it's too simplistic, maybe it's the fact that the actual events are so recent that the film can't comment meaningfully on their potential future implications — that makes its populist bent feel contrived. It taps into the sense of injustice that we saw in films like "The Big Short," which it's clearly modeled after, but can't seem to summon the same powerful feeling of rage.

"Dumb Money" goes into wide release in theaters on September 29.