Review: Dumb Money

Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

Yet another in a slate of movies in recent years about the failings of capitalism and Wall Street, "Dumb Money" is just as confusing as "The Big Short" for those unfamiliar with the workings of the stock market and investment lingo. It's not quite as engrossing as Adam McKay's film, but it's bolstered by a strong lead performance by Paul Dano and a bunch of supporting actors getting the most out of their smaller roles.

The film follows the phenomenon that occurred a few years ago during the so-called "short squeeze" involving a mostly unknown Reddit user who led a group of mostly lower- and middle-class Americans to invest in GameStop.

From what I understand, larger hedge funds make large amounts of money from the failure of companies, betting that they will not survive and essentially profiting off the misery of those who lose their jobs. When Keith Gill (Dano), operating under the name "Roaring Kitty," convinced his online - and mostly young - followers to invest in GameStop, it caused the stock to skyrocket. 

Gill became a multi-millionaire, but held onto the stock rather than selling and, in turn, his followers did the same. This resulted in the loss of billions for some top hedge fund operators, leading to a day-trading company known as RobinHood colluding with a hedge fund owner to halt stock trading, thereby causing some investors to be cheated. Congressional hearings followed.

Those in Gill's orbit include his wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley) and brother Kevin (Pete Davidson, who gets many of the film's funniest lines), while his online acolytes include a Pittsburgh nurse (America Ferrera, having some kind of renaissance this year), a low-wage GameStop employee (Anthony Ramos), and two college students (Talia Ryder and Myha'la Herrold). The hedge fund owner is played by Seth Rogen, while Nick Offerman portrays the sinister Ken Griffin, Vincent D'Onofrio is Steve Cohen, and Sebastian Stan plays RobinHood operator Vlad Tenev.

Each of these actors bring their characters fully to life - even though Woodley and D'Onofrio's characters are, perhaps, given the least to do. Davidson provides solid comic relief, while Dano has more than a few poignant moments as the man who has decided to be David to Wall Street's Goliath. Tenev and Rogen are in bumbling sleazeball mode while Offerman's portrayal of Griffin is icy and chilling. Ferrera and Ramos provide solid work as the lower class citizens who are struggling and hoping to see their investments grow, only to be wounded by a corrupt system.

The film isn't without its flaws. The picture sets up the story as a group of rich, entitled Wall Street types against various iterations of the little guy, and this is mostly effective. However, the film - which is set during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic - has an often odd view toward the use of masks. Early in the film, we see the Wall Streeters often sitting unmasked, while their servants are all donning facial coverings. This effectively shows a power imbalance. However, during a later sequence, a GameStop manager (Dane DeHaan) - who essentially lives and dies by corporate's rules - continually tells Ramos' character to put his mask back on, and this act is portrayed as an indignity against a low-wage worker, even though - in this case - the manager is right.

Most of the film's music cues are profane songs of recent years - such as Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's "WAP," among others that cover similar, sexually explicit themes (additionally, the two college students frequently use the word referring to a woman's anatomy when referring to Dano's "Roaring Kitty"). As the owner of at least one Lil Kim and a few Too Short albums, I have no objection to the songs themselves or the reference by the students, but their frequent inclusion appears to be a stylistic choice, although it provides nothing in the way of commentary on this particular story. 

Music can often be employed to great effect in movies to comment on the action or provide context or backdrop. While the music here was popular during the moment in which the action is set, it does little to comment on the story and, as a result, comes off as distracting.

Regardless, "Dumb Money" works the same miracle as "The Big Short" and some of the other solid films in this subgenre - it makes the shenanigans of Wall Street both entertaining and interesting, taking subject matter that is ultimately kind of depressing and presenting it in a lively, engaging manner. The picture is filled with strong performances and it captures that feeling of triumph in the small victories a group of determined people can achieve when taking on the system.