Dumb Money: The GameStop Story [Blu-Ray]

Director: Craig Gillespie

Cast: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogen

Release Date: December 12, 2023

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Dumb Money is the ultimate David vs. Goliath tale, based on the insane true story of everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich by turning GameStop (yes, the mall video game store) into the world’s hottest company. In the middle of everything is regular guy Keith Gill (Paul Dano), who starts it all by sinking his life savings into the stock and posting about it. When his social posts start blowing up, so does his life and the lives of everyone following him. As a stock tip becomes a movement, everyone gets rich – until the billionaires fight back, and both sides find their worlds turned upside down.

Please Note: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

THE MOVIE:

‘Dumb Money’ tells the wild, true story of the Gamestop stock chaos that had Wall Street reeling and proved that even some regular people with little or no knowledge of the market still have the ability to change everything when working in unison. The film follows Keith Gill (Dano) who decides to put the majority of his family’s savings into Gamestop stock after realizing that it’s being undervalued. Deciding to post videos updating his progress and displaying the details of his investment, it quickly goes viral and as various others join in with him thanks to a little help from the reddit community, it ends up igniting a revolution of sorts that made headlines and began to bankrupt wealthy individuals who naturally don’t hesitate to fight back.

Directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella) from a screenplay written by Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo (TV’s Orange is the New Black), based on the book “The Antisocial Network” by Ben Mezrich, Gillespie does a nice job at the helm of ‘Dumb Money’ guiding the funny and exciting true tale along with a fitting pace and style. The film’s all-star cast includes Paul Dano (The Fabelmans), Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island), Vincent D’Onofrio (The Salton Sea), America Ferrera (Barbie), Nick Offerman (TV’s Pam & Tommy), Anthony Ramos (In The Heights), Sebastian Stan (TV’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Shailene Woodley (Ferrari), and Seth Rogen (Long Shot), along with more, and the majority each contribute capable and fitting performances for the most part in their respective roles.

‘Dumb Money’ is a fun, fast-paced and engulfing look at one regular guy who ignites a movement that quickly escalated to a level that had the extremely wealthy and the stock market itself terrified and fighting for a way to stop him and those who joined him. Packed with humor, heart and based on a true story that’s so wild it’s almost hard to believe, ‘Dumb Money’ chronicles the chaos revolving around the Gamestop stock that eventually even caught the government’s attention. It approaches the subject matter in a fitting style that embraces the shocking and at times absurdity of the whole ordeal and takes viewers along for a rewarding ride that’s almost guaranteed to slap a smile on your face and keep it there for most of its duration as we can’t help but cheer for these underdogs who make far more noise than expected once things really take off.

Director Craig Gillespie does a great job guiding along the true tale with a perfect balance of humor and heart and his capable work in the director’s seat is perfectly complemented by a stellar all-star cast led by Paul Dano. It all comes together to form a touching, hilarious and invigorating story of one man’s passion and dedication, not to mention the countless others who took a risk and joined him on his journey. If you’re at all intrigued by this one already or if you’re simply a fan of the talented cast it features, it’s definitely worth taking the time to give a chance.

OVERALL:

‘Dumb Money’ delivers a fun, funny and wildly exciting look at the Gamestop stock fiasco that uprooted Wall Street. Never hesitating to fully embrace the absurdity of the whole situation and with plenty of ripe opportunities for laughs and heart always utilized throughout, this surprisingly powerful true tale is only further complemented by the solid guidance of director Craig Gillespie and the talented cast led by Paul Dano who all help it to evolve into something quite special. ‘Dumb Money’ is definitely recommended, especially for anyone that is a fan of the various noteworthy cast members within or those who appreciate a moving and consistently funny tale about underdogs getting the upper hand and fighting for those less financially secure in the world. This one should have little trouble keeping you glued to the screen for its duration and is well worth taking the time to check out whenever possible.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Dumb Money’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks quite nice as a whole and it delivers a clean, smooth and well detailed presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any notable glitches or troubles occurring along the way. It holds up satisfactorily throughout and sharp clarity and detail is evident on nearly every element within from characters and backgrounds, both interior and exterior, along with plenty more. Overall, this is a solid high definition video presentation from Sony that does its job well and should satisfy fans of the film as well as newcomers.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack makes a nice complement to the film and provides a crisp, clean and at times quite immersive audio presentation throughout. It utilizes all five available channels along its duration in order to send music, nature effects, along with bits of crowd chatter and plenty more throughout the various speakers whenever appropriate, while never allowing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible in the process. The music selections also often provide plenty of opportunities for the bass to show off its stuff. Overall, this is a fully capable 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that holds up in every way required of it and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Dumb Money’ features a few nice extras including an ‘Audio Commentary with Writers and Executive Producers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo’, in addition to a few ‘Deleted and Extended Scenes’ from the film (running approximately 3 minutes in length altogether), plus a couple Behind the Scenes Featurettes that feature interviews/comments with cast and crew, behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are ‘Fat Cats and the Roaring Kitty’ (running approximately 8 minutes) and ‘Diamond Hand Ensemble’ (approximately 6 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Dumb Money: The Gamestop Story’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Stage 6 Films & Sony Pictures Home Entertainment