Directed by Craig Gillespie, the film is based on the ridiculous true story of Craig Gill, a Twitch streamer. Gill uses his life savings to purchase stocks in GameStop, despite the outpouring of criticism from those around him. A ragtag group decides to follow him, and they defy the odds, all while billionaire moguls lose out. While Paul Dano does a good job in this role, for me, the supporting cast sends the movie just over a seven out of ten. The supporting cast includes; Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson, Anthony Ramos, Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan, Vincent D’Onofrio, Shailene Woodley, Talia Rider, as well as multiple sitcom greats, Nick Offerman and America Ferrera, in Parks And Recreation and Superstore, respectively. Don’t be fooled by the ‘stock bro’ exterior of the film like I was; this movie definitely has something for you, even if you have no clue about the stock market like me. The first glimpse of the movie proved this, with an opening sequence set to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s infamous 2020 smash hit, ‘WAP.’ The movie has an 84 percent so far on Rotten Tomatoes.
Although the movie does nothing visually new with the cinematography, there were a couple of beautiful short focal length shots I’d love to hang on my wall. The editing team did a good job of replicating a streamer’s setup and livestream without seeming out of touch or unrealistic, as I often find in other movies. The memes used in the movie were a bit old, but with the length of production for any movie, that’s bound to happen if you choose to include them. Overall, the movie was easy to look at and didn’t feel overwhelming or overbearing to watch. The supporting cast, especially Ferrera, Rider and Ramos, felt believable and genuine, and that’s what locked in a good rating for me. They seemed to let loose and really throw themselves into their characters, and I craved more of their performances every time they would leave the screen. Between Barbie and Dumb Money, it seems like it’s the summer of America Ferrera, and it’s long overdue.
Dumb Money was my first TIFF screening, and the audience was one of the most energetic presences I’ve seen in a theatre before. You really can’t go wrong watching a movie like this in a theatre or at home. I personally haven’t seen many films in the Wall Street genre, but if they’re like this, I definitely will.
Dumb Money is in theatres now.
