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Dumb Money suffers not only from being far too recent to be made into a film but also the lack of any earned emotional resonance for its entirely too-large ensemble. Craig Gillespie wants this film to be the year’s The Social Network, but his film is lackluster despite the star power on hand.

We see films quite often hit the big screen right after major events and there’s often a ‘is this too recent’ question in the air, but Dumb Money has another question attached to it…did we need to see this story told in a feature length film? The story of Reddit users putting a squeeze on hedge funds predicting a fall of GameStop stock is interesting, but there ultimately needs to be a decision made as a storyteller. Are you strictly telling the story of what happened or are you exploring why and how it happened? Dumb Money will be compared to other adaptations of major tech and financial real events into films, such as The Big Short, but this film refuses to really take any sort of side or provide any insight into the event, causing the film to fall flat.

Ben Mezrich has written many books adapted into films, including The Social Network, but this time his latest book adapted into a film may not have landed quite well. Because Dumb Money comes across as a Wikipedia entry of the GameStop Wall Street Bets incident, the absence of a human element is much more noticeable. While there are characters inserted to explore every side of the story, there is no focus on any of them. The screenplay does not ever allow you to care about these characters despite the great performances behind them. The film cares about these characters as much as the hedge funders care about the everyday person. 

Dumb Money’s focal point is Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a financial analyst for an insurance company by day and a growing internet sensation by night. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Keith gained an audience, especially when he started to champion GameStop, the retailer that most people, including major Wall Street hedge funds, saw as a failing business. His online persona, Roaring Kitty, picked up major steam via Reddit page, r/wallstreetbets, and soon his viewers begin purchasing stock in the video game retailer alongside him. 

The Big Short mostly worked because the film did not treat its audience dumb for not understanding a complicated subject that our own government hoped we did not understand, but Dumb Money does not explain its subject matter in a respectful manner to the audience. What happened with GameStop and hedge funds is far less complicated than subprime home loans defaulting, yet the film is much more focused on just guiding the audience through the specific timeline of events unfolding versus unpacking how or why. 

Keith’s real testimony is recited in the film to give a big moment to say that the man doesn’t care about the people, and despite this being his real testimony, it just hammers home the same mantra delivered word for word throughout Dumb Money’s entire runtime. The film refusing to explore why or how this happened prevents providing any insight to how we are living in the effects of it now or what it means for the future. Dumb Money also refuses to explore the dark side of Reddit other than an offhand comment from a sidelined character to even add insight to why this movement was shrugged off by the financial industry for so long. 

Dumb Money suffers not only from being far too recent to be made into a film but also the lack of any earned emotional resonance for its entirely too-large ensemble. The cast is filled with incredible actors who are given almost nothing to do. The antagonists of the film, Wall Street hedge funders Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen), Steve Cohen (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman), feel flat and not properly utilized. Casual investors, including Jenny (America Ferrera), GameStop employee Marcus (Anthony Ramos) and a college couple Riri (Myha’la Herrold) and Harmony (Talia Ryder), all feel underwritten despite some backstory being provided. There’s not enough time on any of them to feel the film cares for them. The Silicon Valley boys Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan) and Baiju Bhatt (Rushi Kota), whose Robinhood app helped these casual investors get into stock trading, feel like a last-minute entry. 

Craig Gillespie wants this film to be the year’s The Social Network, but his film is lackluster despite the star power on hand. Dumb Money is too on the nose and straight forward with its retelling of events. The film refuses to say anything about the situation or provide any insight. The real events that inspired the film are game changing in many ways, but Dumb Money treats it just as a headline story with zero impact on the real world. 

Grade: D

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: None

Where to Watch: In Theaters