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MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

In an early scene of the “based on a true story” Dumb Money, we follow multimillionaire hedge fund manager Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogan) walking through an empty mansion. He is not planning on furnishing the place, but of tearing it down so that he can have a tennis court for his house next door. We see his net worth flashed on the screen. Are you paying attention? He’s rich and selfish.

We then meet Keith Gill (Dano), his wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley) and their infant daughter. Keith’s net worth is just a little over $50,000 and he has just invested it all in shares of GameStop – the videogame store in countless malls that sells used and new videogames. Keith’s confidence in this decision is informed by his full-time job as a social media influencer, providing financial advice on his You Tube channel as Roaring Kitty and also on a Reddit channel (with a more profane and hip alias). Keith has a wacky brother Kevin (Davidson) who is a Door Dash driver. Since this all takes place in 2020 -21 during the final days of the pandemic, Kevin keeps busy with food deliveries. They’re young and living day-to-day.

We are then introduced to other players on both sides. There are more hedge fund CEOs working together to make a killing as they play the system, waiting for GameStop shares to plummet after a quick rise. Keith’s viewers are hundreds of small-time investors, willing to follow his lead and act in unexpected ways to confound the powers that be.

It's slobs vs. snobs, in a true-life investment story that actually will lead to a congressional ethics hearing in 2021.

This is clearly an interesting event and worthy of revisiting. Dumb Money is based on “The Antisocial Network” a non-fiction book by Ben Mezrich; there are also two 2-hour documentaries – Netflix’s Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga and HBO Max’s Gaming Wall Street.

My main problem with this picture is that it seems to think the ragtag bunch of young investors are worthy of celebration over the financial giants. Jesus spent his time in public ministry with rich and poor alike but encouraged his followers to shun the habits of the wealthy and those who defined their value in monetary terms.

Ethically speaking, both sides depicted in Dumb Money were trying to exploit the system for their own financial gain. The collateral damage of this GameStop “short squeeze” would affect thousands of less astute investors as well as other businesses. What may play as a comedy for some is no laughing matter for others.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:

Two halos: A self-congratulatory fact-based comedy-drama that isn’t quite as smart as it thinks.
Three pitchforks: Constant extreme profanity; unethical stock market practices; food tampering; rude, crude music on the soundtrack.

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