“Dumb Money” is the kind of midbudget, formula-busting, thinking-person’s movie that isn’t supposed to get made anymore, much less receive a wide, studio-backed release in theaters.
It tells the bizarre true story of small investors — a nurse, college students, a YouTube personality known as Roaring Kitty — who created a Wall Street frenzy over the troubled video game retailer GameStop during the pandemic.
Determined to teach professional investors a lesson, and hopefully get rich in the process, they pushed GameStop shares to a stratospheric level in early 2021, for a time putting the squeeze on sophisticated hedge funds that had bet that GameStop shares would fall.
The $30 million film, directed by Craig Gillespie (“Cruella”), contains withering depictions of real-life Wall Street figures like Kenneth C. Griffin, the Citadel titan; Steven A. Cohen, the hedge fund manager and New York Mets owner; and Gabe Plotkin, whose hedge fund lost billions in the squeeze.
In one colorful scene, Mr. Cohen, played by Vincent D’Onofrio, sits in a mansion snarfing a club sandwich and snorting with laughter on the phone with Mr. Plotkin, played by Seth Rogen.
Persons:
Kitty —, Craig Gillespie, Kenneth C, Griffin, Steven A, Cohen, Gabe Plotkin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Plotkin, Seth Rogen
Organizations:
GameStop, New York Mets