In September 2019, Keith Gill (Paul Dano) posted on his Reddit channel a screenshot showing he had invested roughly $53,000 in GameStop, a US chain of stores that specialises in selling new and used computer games. On his various social media channels he argued that the stock was undervalued.
His actions encouraged hundreds of thousands of people to invest in GameStop shares sending the share price through the roof.
There’s really not much to Gill’s story and director Craig Gillespie tends to pad out his story by trying to show some of Gill’s life away from his computer. There’s the constant bickering with his brother (Pete Davidson) and various conversations with his wife (Shailene Woodley) which only really amounts to talking about how much money they’ve made. Gillespie also adds a few characters into the narrative who, based on Gill’s advice, invest in GameStop shares. There’s America Ferrera as a nurse who needs money to help her ill child whilst Talia Ryder and Myha'la Herrold are two students, who, as a way out of their student debt, invest every last cent they have.
I went into the film knowing something about Gill’s exploits but even that little knowledge left me confused as to what was going on.
Dumb Money is a dry and often confusing film that whilst interesting won’t live that long in the memory.
