Dumb Money TIFF

Stars Paul Dano as Keith Gill, a YouTuber whose hobby focused on Wall Street’s stock market, giving tips to followers on stocks he liked. In 2021, during the pandemic, he noticed that the brick-and-mortar store GameStop was losing money as in-person sales had dropped. He urged followers to invest their money into the stock and hold. We follow nurses, college students, and others who believed in Gill, holding onto their stock even though the numbers reached millions.

The story has been compared to the fable David vs. Goliath; in this case, at times, it’s a real nail-biter. The hilarious and crowd-pleasing movie co-stars Shailene Woodley, who plays his wife, and Pete Davidson as his brother. Seth Rogen also stars as a stockbroker millionaire. Paul Dano is fantastic in his portrayal as an employee of MassMutual Life Insurance company who by night and weekends becomes “Roaring Kitty” with his headband and kitty T-shirts, as I viewed YouTube videos of the real-life Keith Gill, and he nailed the part.

The director is Craig Gillespie of “I, Tonya.” and “Cruella.” The film opens in theaters, releasing on September 28. I’ve always admired Dano’s acting and met him last January 2023 at the Critics Choice Awards; he was great to talk with. The film also includes Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, and Sebastian Stan. The script is written by Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo and based on the book The Antisocial Network by Ben Mezrich. 

 

Director: Craig Gillespie

Screenplay: Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo

Cast: Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, and Sebastian Stan

Running Time: 1 hour 44 minutes

Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

In theaters now.

Sarah Knight Adamson© September 12, 2023