It’s 2020, and the global pandemic is in full effect. Keith Gill (Paul Dano) works as a financial analyst at MassMutual by day, but at night, he’s a recreational investor, who shares his his investment methodology on YouTube as “Roaring Kitty” and on the WallStreetBets Subreddit as “DeepF-ingValue”. While Wall Street hedge funds are shorting GameStop stock, hoping that the company will fail, Keith believes the stock is undervalued, and decides to invest half his savings into it. While Keith’s Wall Street friend thinks he’s crazy, Keith’s wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley) is supportive of whatever he does. As the stock starts to rise, more and more people start to follow Keith’s investment videos, and an army of average joe retail investors start to rally around him and the GameStop stock. Some of these people include Jenny Campbell (America Ferrera) a single mom and nurse who’s deep in debt; young GameStop store employee Marcos Garcia (Anthony Ramos) who can’t stand his obnoxious boss (Dane DeHaan) or the store’s ridiculous HR policies; Keith’s slacker brother/horrible Door Dash driver Kevin (Pete Davidson); and college students with massive student loan debt, Harmony Williams (Talia Ryder) & Riri Pariseau (Myha’la).
Enabling these young novices to get into the market is the new commission-free Robinhood app, created by co-CEOs Baiju Bhatt (Rushi Kota) & Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan). At first, the rich Wall Street hedge fund owners like Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen), Steve Cohen (Vincent D’Onofrio) & Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman) scoff at these “dumb money” investors, and even increase their short investments. But as the GME stock rapidly climbs—along with their losses—the hedge fund CEOs start to get worried, and look for ways to use their power and influence to stop Keith and divide his army of retail traders. Is there any hope for the underdog, or is the game rigged? Meanwhile, these “dumb money” traders struggle between the temptation to cash out and their desire to keep holding the line and continue the “Diamond Hands” movement against the bigwigs on Wall Street.
Dumb Money has a large ensemble cast, but most of the actors were filmed separately from one another. However, the film is cut together in such a way that it constantly switches between the various hedge fund CEOs, retail investors, and Keith, following their struggles and reactions to what’s going on. It all comes together nicely and feels like one coherent movie—you forget that a lot of these characters aren’t actually interacting with one another, even though they share this common event. It’s such a great cast, and all of them get to show off both their comedic and dramatic chops. Each of the underdog investors has some financial or life struggle they are trying to improve, and the film takes a few dramatic turns, but the movie is still very much a comedy, providing lots of laughs—whether it’s the ridiculous lives of the rich CEOs, or the thrill of the underdogs getting the upper-hand. It never feels preachy or one-sided, and does a nice job of showing both sides of these CEOs (even though they’re ultimate the villains). There’s a lot of comedic talent in this movie—the film also stars Kate Burton and Clancy Brown as Keith’s parents, and their reaction to finding out just how much money Keith has made with his “hobby” is priceless.
I first saw this film in the theater, and enjoyed it just as much this second time around on home video.
Sony’s has released Dumb Money on physicals media on Blu-ray and DVD, but it is also available digitally in 4K. I was sent the Blu-ray release for review, which features solid picture and sound. This is primarily a dialogue-driven movie, with many scenes taking place with just one or two characters (who often drop lots of F-bombs), so there isn’t really a very immersive audio track. The dialogue remains clear throughout, and the film’s quite explicit soundtrack really fills the room when the music kicks in. The video presentation looks great, with a very clean, clear picture, and a nice level of detail throughout. I didn’t really notice any issues. The Blu-ray disc resides in standard HD keepcase with a glossy slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD Movies Anywhere-compatible digital copy of the film. The disc contains a commentary by the writers, two making-of featurettes with the cast/filmmakers, and 3 deleted/extended scenes.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:45:02)
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Audio Descriptive Service
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
- HD digital copy, redeemable via Movies Anywhere or Vudu
- Fat Cats & the Roaring Kitty (7:44)
The cast and filmmakers discuss the term “dumb money”, the characters, the story, representing the various groups involved, and more. Includes clips, and interviews with executive producers/writers Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Schuker Blum, director Craig Gillespie, and stars America Ferrera (“Jenny”), Seth Rogen (“Gabe Plotkin”), Paul Dano (“Keith Gill”), Nick Offerman (“Ken Griffin”), Pete Davidson (“Kevin Gill”) & Shailene Woodley (“Caroline Gill”). - Diamond Hand Ensemble (5:40)
The director talks about casting the movie, wrking with the actors, and filming most of the parts separately. Includes clips, and interviews with Includes clips, and interviews with director Craig Gillespie, and stars Paul Dano, Seth Rogen & Nick Offerman. - Deleted Scenes (2:41)
Collection of 3 short deleted/extended scenes. Play All, or select from:- Locked Out (:56)
Slightly extended scene with Harmony & Riri locked out of their room, and deciding to go back into the market when the site comes back online. - To the Moon (1:24)
In this extended scene, after telling the flight attendant her problems, Jenny meets a fellow diamond hand on the plane. - Brad + Marcos Dance (:31)
Brad and Marcos dance sequence recoded via a phone.
- Locked Out (:56)
- Filmmaker Commentary (1:45:02)
Writers/executive producers Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo provide a fun and interesting commentary throughout the film. They talk about the cast, the real people the characters are based on, the story, the set design, and more. They also share some behind-the-scenes stories about the cast and production. - Previews (7:40)
Trailers for No Hard Feelings (2:33), The Equalizer 3 (2:33) & Gran Turismo (2:33) play back-to-back.
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Blu-ray:
Digital (Limited time offer):
Extras:
Play All, or select from:
Final Thoughts:
Dumb Money is based on real events, and brings in an all-star cast to take a fun look at how some underdogs took on Wall Street in order to show that the stock market is something everyone can make money at, and not just the rich and powerful. Sony’s Bu-ray release looks and sounds great, and includes some entertaining bonus material. Worth a look for fans of the cast or anyone looking for a fun new comedy to watch.
Dumb Money – Blu-ray + Digital
$15.39 $8.99 (as of November 7, 2024 11:40 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Dumb Money – DVD + Digital
69% Off $34.99 $6.70 (as of November 7, 2024 11:40 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Dumb Money
$14.99 (as of November 7, 2024 11:40 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
