A YouTuber with the pseudonym “Roaring Kitty” is sitting at the computer wearing a cat T-shirt and a red headband. In a basement room, the slightly nerdy man in his mid-thirties and young father records videos and explains to his fans which stocks he invests in. Should you really trust this strange bird and his investment tips?
The financial satire “Dumb Money” revolves around the adventurous story, based on true events, of the American Keith Gill, who turned the financial world upside down and brought down Wall Street millionaires.
The recommendation of the hobby YouTuber and financial analyst: Buy the shares of the video game retailer Gamestop. “Roaring Kitty” fans, a veritable army of small investors who organize themselves via online services such as Reddit, promptly bet on the stumbling US store chain. In January 2021, Gamestop shares shot up steeply. This in turn caused powerful hedge funds that were betting on a price decline to lose billions. The spectacular rollercoaster ride on the stock market made headlines around the world.
Exciting, entertaining, hair-raising
Anyone who has little use for financial jargon like “meme stock” or “shortseller” or expects boring, unwieldy material will quickly be taught otherwise. “Dumb Money – Fast Money” is an exciting, entertaining and sometimes hair-raising financial satire that benefits from a star ensemble.
Paul Dano, who most recently starred in Steven Spielberg’s coming-of-age drama The Fablemans, is now joining Roaring Kitty. The rather shy financial analyst is a family man (Shailene Woodley plays his wife Caroline) who likes to go jogging when he’s not commenting on the stock market live on the computer.
He bets his modest savings on one stock – Gamestop. His fans do the same. Almost involuntarily, Gill becomes the leader of the many amateur investors who suddenly become rich with the explosion in stocks. In a kind of “David versus Goliath” battle, they stand up to the powerful Wall Street bosses.
Comedian Pete Davidson is Gill’s pot-smoking brother Kevin, who knows little about financial transactions. “My brother is a fucking nerd,” he says, rolling his eyes. America Ferrera (“Barbie”) plays a nurse and single mother with money worries who gambles in the Gamestop rally. Anthony Ramos takes on the role of a young salesman in a Gamestop store who, as a Roaring Kitty fan, bets his savings on the stock.
Competition between hedge funds and amateur shareholders
Opposed to this are the Wall Street heavyweights: Seth Rogen plays hedge fund manager Gabe Plotkin, with a luxury villa in Miami, who sweats as he watches his stock market speculation collapse. “How much have we lost today,” his wife asks. “A billion,” his succinct answer. And yesterday? – the wife asks. “A billion,” Gabe says, head bowed and wine glass in hand. In Keith Gill’s simple suburban house the same question – earned nine million in two days, calculates “Roaring Kitty”. “Hey, we’re rich as shit,” says the wife happily.
But the Gamestop saga continued. In the competition between hedge funds and hobby shareholders, the online broker Robinhood pulled the ripcord and temporarily blocked further share purchases in the app. Small investors were thwarted and US politicians intervened in the financial conflict. In the end, those involved had to answer questions in a congressional hearing.
The Australian director Craig Gillespie draws on the non-fiction book “The Antisocial Network” by author Ben Mezrich, who had previously highlighted the success story of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in “Billionaire by Chance”. Gillespie has a penchant for films based on true events. In 2017 he filmed the ice skating drama “I, Tonya” with Margot Robbie (“Barbie”). Gillespie also directed the TV series “Pam
In “Dumb Money” the director wants to avoid boredom and deep explanations at all costs. The comedy-drama is characterized by a slapdash tone, quick cuts, lively hip-hop music and lots of jumps between the protagonists. Dry financial transactions are loosely touched on, with biting swipes at profit-seeking, unscrupulous stock market speculators.
Dumb Money – Quick Money, USA 2023, 105 minutes FSK 12, by Craig Gillespie, with Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, America Ferrera, Shailene Woodley
