DUMB MONEY review by Marinell Haegelin
“ Institutional investors and mutual fund companies are labeled “ smart money ,” while retail ( individual ) investors are called “ dumb money .” investopedia . com
In January 2021 , a GameStop short squeeze occurred , challenging Wall Street in the way that underdogs can catch bigwigs and government off guard . Dumb Money is smart and funny ; Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo ’ s intelligently constructed screenplay under Craig Gillespie ’ s direction increases the action as the story unfolds . The film ’ s foundation is Ben Mezrich ’ s 2021 nonfiction book , The Antisocial Network ; Mezrich ’ s 2009 book , The Accidental Billionaires , spawned The Social
Network by Aaron Sorkin in 2010 .
© LEONINE
DUMB MONEY
SCHNELLES GELD
USA 2023 OPENING OCTOBER 26 , 2023
DIRECTED BY : CRAIG GILLESPIE
WRITING CREDITS : LAUREN SCHUKER BLUM , REBECCA ANGELO , BEN MEZRICH
PRINCIPAL ACTORS : PAUL DANO , PETE DAVIDSON , SHAILENE WOODLEY , SETH ROGEN , AMERICA FERRERA
Paul Dano plays Keith Gill , at the helm in his basement video studio , who has acquired a healthy following of average working-class traders using different names , e . g ., Roaring Kitty / DeepFuckingValue , on different media platforms . The Massachusetts husband / father ’ s preposterous marketing skills and loyalty to the small retail company tip the scales . Pete Davidson , as brother Kevin , unmercifully scoffs at his venture ; Deniz Akdeniz his ( successful ) university friend Briggsy is concerned , and his parents Kate Burton and Clancy Brown are skeptical . Only Shailene Woodley , as wife Caroline , steadfastly supports his decisions . The mishmash of Roaring Kitty ’ s followers , ranging from nurse to GameStop employee , are America Ferrera , Myha ’ la Herrold , Talia Ryder , and Anthony Ramos .
On the Wall Street team are Seth Rogen as rascally Gabe Plotkin , Melvin Capital hedge fund founder ; Vincent D ’ Onofrio as Plotkin ’ s mentor ; Nick Offerman as Kenneth C . Griffin , another hedge fund guy and Citadel and Citadel Securities founder ; and the markedly deceptive Robinhood trading-app cofounder Vlad Tenev , played by Sebastian Stan .
Kirk Baxter ’ s quick-paced editing sets the exhilarating tempo that with Will Bates ’ s soundtrack and wonderfully chosen popular music pump the adrenaline charge higher . Baxter cleverly inserts archival CNBC news material , e . g ., the 2021 US congressional hearing testimony , and shrewdly adds stills of the honest-to-goodness individuals at the end . Cinematographer Nikolas Karakatsanis filmed in New Jersey ; production design is by Scott Kuzio .
In the long term , the highs , lows , and one player ’ s bellyflop capture the surging elation of 2021 ’ s mood when the Davids are trouncing the Goliaths . Besides being entertaining , Dumb Money manages to detangle short fall and dumb money complexities , whereby they are understandable .
A sidenote : billionaire Ken Griffin , Citadel founder , is in legal wrangling with Sony Pictures about his and the company ’ s portrayal in the film . 104 minutes
46 HAMBURG HAPPENINGS