2023 has certainly been a year for the biopic: Oppenheimer, Tetris, Air, Napoleon. And Craig Gillespie's 'Dumb Money' is the latest addition to this long and impressive list. But not quite the same as it's predecessors.
'Dumb Money' isn't necessarily a movie about a certain individuals life or their journey from cradle to grave, if anything, it is more a story about an event that happened.
And this particular event not only heavily affected the life of Keith Gill (Paul Dano), but also millions of people around the United States.
'Dumb Money' follows the story of Keith Gill, an online YouTuber in his 30's who also goes by the name: Roaring Kitty. Gill was just your average YouTuber attempting to get rich quick until one decision that he and thousands of other made would change the stock market forever.
Director, Craig Gillespie has built up an exciting catalogue of work throughout his filmmaking career. And it was no error that he would be a strong candidate to enter the world of biopics after the success that 'I, Tonya' garnered back in 2017.
But as previously mentioned, this movie doesn't follow the standard procedures that biopics tend to live by nowadays. Instead, the lens decides to zoom out of the frame for this movie, instead of just telling the tale of one person in particular.
The decision to introduce several characters that serve the role as different stakeholders that are all affected by what can only be described as 'The Rise Of GameStop' is a unique and intelligent way of looking at things.
By doing this, the audience tend to feel more emotionally involved in the story because we tend to realise just what was at stake for so many people throughout this entire real-life occurrence.
Paul Dano does an excellent job of portraying Keith Gill a.k.a Roaring Kitty in this movie. He is also surrounded with an excellent supporting cast that do a brilliant job of bringing this working-class people to life.
Anthony Ramos as the penniless teenager, Talia Ryder as the student buried up to her neck in debt, and America Ferrara as the single-mother, deemed as an essential worker throughout the Covid pandemic.
And on the other side of the world, Seth Rogen also does a solid role of portraying Gabe Plotkin, the smart-ass billionaire who sees nothing but terror and leaking profits throughout 'The Rise Of GameStop'.
Another aspect to this film that only intensifies the experience for the members of the audience is the impressive score, composed by Will Bates.
Throughout the film there are a number of dramatic sequences that wouldn't be anywhere near as effective or intensifying if it wasn't for Bates' original score.
From a personal point of view, I knew very little about how the US Stock Market worked and had no idea whatsoever what 'The Rise Of GameStop' even was. And although it wouldn't hurt viewers that much to do a small amount of research before seeing this film, it certainly isn't essential.
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