Film Review - Dumb Money (2023)

You can hear the contempt in the words. “Dumb money”. It’s what the big boys in finance call individual investors, who often veer towards retail stock, a notoriously bad move. But, at the start of 2021 when the world was still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, traders found their corner of the world was being turned upside down by the people they despised the most. And dumb they certainly weren’t.

In his basement, Keith Gill (Paul Dano) had established a name for himself through his investment YouTube channel. Known to his followers as Roaring Kitty, he puts his knowledge and experience of stock trading to unexpected use by challenging the big boys on Wall Street. His investment is risky – GameStop, a struggling high street tech store – but, once his followers know about it, they follow his lead. Suddenly, high finance has been caught unawares, ordinary people are making big money and Keith’s social media posts have become an near-overnight sensation. Everything’s changed for him, his fans and the billionaires who are losing money hand over fist. It’s not long before they fight back.

Taking the Ben Mezrich book The Big Short (2016) and sets out to put clear daylight between the two. The result is an infinitely more accessible film than its predecessor – gone is the need to explain complicated trading jargon – one with a swagger and sense of fun that rarely goes with the subject matter. A pulsating soundtrack, fast-moving montages and cheeky, irreverent humour make the near-surreal events not just entertaining but much easier to understand. And there are laughs to spare.

Blessed with a smartly chosen cast – the benign featured Dano is perfect as the unassuming everyman at the centre of this David and Goliath story – it has some great turns, especially among the Wall Street high-flyers. As played by Vincent D’Onofrio (Kingpin in sweats), the deadpan Nick Offerman and a media-shy Seth Rogen, they’re never portrayed as the villains of the piece. They’re out of touch, sure, and their motives for making money are purely selfish, but they’re not essentially evil.

We’re also thrown a curveball that’s almost as big a surprise as Roaring Kitty’s success. Set during the pandemic, the film unexpectedly captures the atmosphere of the time, as well as its emotional and practical impact, with unerring accuracy and sensitivity. We’re taken straight back to those months of isolation, when the world slowed down to a near-stop and nobody was left untouched by the impact of the virus. Taking on the big boys gave this group of small investors something to focus on away from the turmoil around them. For some, it was life-changing in the most positive of ways. And you’ll cheer for them.