Dumb Money: Paul Dano and America Ferrera Take On Wall Street In Biopic Comedy
For some reason, 2023 is becoming the year of biopics about businesses: from Apple TV’s biographical thriller Tetris, to the Ben Affleck directed Air, and upcoming comedy The Beanie Bubble, Hollywood can’t seem to get enough of them. Dumb Money, which is set to release in September, takes a slightly different approach, telling the story of how a group of amateur investors caused turmoil for Wall Street by investing in gaming retailer GameStop- and made a lot of money (and headlines) in the process.
What Is Dumb Money About?
You might remember the GameStop squeeze in 2021 which captured media attention around the world, with even Elon Musk chiming in- and Dumb Money aims to retell that tale. Paul Dano (The Batman, The Fablemans) plays the central role of Keith Gill, a financial analyst in his mid-30s who decided to encourage people on the wallstreetbets forum on Reddit to invest money into GameStop, the US game retailer that had been declining in value for years.
As Reddit users piled on by investing in stocks, the price to rose, and Wall Street hedge funds began losing a lot of money. Luckily you don’t need an intimate knowledge of hedge funds, Wall Street, Reddit and investing to understand things- the film makes sure to explain things in an easy-to-get way. Much like The Big Short, Dumb Money is less about the economics and more about the comedy- and stars an impressive cast.
Who Stars?
As Keith’s investing advice picks up traction and more and more people get involved in GameStop stock, things look as though the future of Wall Street and finance could be upended, with thousands of amateur investors determined to stick it to the man. “Wall Street is betting this company is gonna fail, and if it fails these hedgefund assholes make a shit ton of money” explains Keith Gill follower Jennifer (America Ferrera) in the trailer.
Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil), Sebastian Stan (Pam & Tommy) and Nick Offerman (The Last of Us) star as some of the Wall Street businessman that Keith and his followers are determined to take down. Meanwhile, Pete Davidson (Bodies Bodies Bodies) plays Keith’s brother Kevin, and Dane DeHaan (The Staircase), Anthony Ramos (In The Heights) Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies) and Talia Ryder (Do Revenge) also star.
What Else Do I Need To Know?
Dumb Money is directed by Craig Gillespie, best known for films like I, Tonya and Cruella, and is adapted from the book The Antisocial Network by Ben Mezrich. It’s set to release on 22nd September in cinemas before arriving on streaming, and you can watch the trailer below.
