The Stream: This GameStop thing basically happened yesterday, and there’s already a movie????

The Big Screen: The comic tone makes it a fun, easy watch.

The Final Bill: This movie never makes this strange-but-true, stick-it-to-the-man event compelling.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Craig Gillespie
Writers: Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo based on a book, “The Antisocial Network” by Ben Mezrich
Stars: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Seth Rogen, Anthony Ramos, Shailene Woodley, Sebastian Stan
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: R for pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use
Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes
Production Companies: Black Bear Productions, Columbia Pictures, Ryder Picture Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Stage 6 Films
Platform: In theaters September 29, 2023
Notable Trailers: Killers of the Flower Moon, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Thanksgiving, Napoleon, Dream Scenario, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

What’s up, Streamers!?!? I know it’s spooky season, but some of us don’t like to be spooked. I, for one, tend to avoid your most horrific of horror flicks. It is great that there are some offerings in the theater that are not of the spooky version. For instance, Dumb Money tells the strange-but-true story about how an online community bet on GameStop stock and took Wall Street by surprise. No jump scares here!

Craig Gillespie, who directed a similar strange-but-true movie in I, Tonya, helms Dumb Money and brings the same energy and comic sensibility to this real-life story. Based on the book, “The Antisocial Network” by Ben Mezrich, the movie follows Keith Gill, a financial analyst in Massachusetts, who is part of an online community, and he posts videos on YouTube under the name Roaring Kitty about his stock portfolio. Gill recognizes that GameStop stock is falling, and he takes a gamble and sinks his life savings into the stock. You should remember this story because it only happened 2 years ago. Nevertheless, Gill’s gamble pays off with the help of the online community following his lead and helping the GameStop stock rebound earning the small-time investors a lot of money. Stick-it-to-the-Man energy, cat jokes, and financial hijinks ensue.

As a cinematic experience, Dumb Money is fine. There isn’t anything particularly interesting visually about this movie, and the events that occurred are too recent to have any perspective on how it affects the financial markets today. Gillespie has infused the story with such a light tone that it almost seems flippant about these people “gambling” with their money. The stakes for the individual characters are not well-defined and therefore it is hard to get too invested in what actually happens to them. I think Gillespie did a better job with I, Tonya because the focus and stakes in that story are very clear and tailored to one character. Also, Dumb Money is kind of like The Big Short, but The Big Short explains the financial crimes and disaster that results better. The issue tackled in The Big Short seems more urgent and universal than whatever is happening here.

Paul Dano plays Keith Gill. Dano brings an intelligence to the role, but he’s otherwise not very compelling. It is hard to understand why so many people followed this guy’s lead, and I don’t get that charisma from Dano’s performance. There is a sprawling cast of other investors which included prominent characters played by America Ferrera and Anthony Ramos. They are fine, but they don’t get much time. There are also the bad guys, which are the hedge fund managers, played by Seth Rogen, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Nick Offerman. They are fine, but everyone just blends into the background.

Ultimately, Dumb Money is just meh. It has an interesting, ripped-from-the-headlines story, but it may be too recent to truly give it any context on how it affects our world. There isn’t any cinematic or visually stimulating reason to rush to a theater to see this movie. The cast is fine, but there are so many characters that they all get short shrift except for the lead, Paul Dano. I suggest a handful of popcorn because this could be interesting to watch once it’s on streaming, but not necessary for a ticket to the theater.