{"id":8434,"date":"2023-10-06T02:27:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T02:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/?p=8434"},"modified":"2024-02-13T02:27:06","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T02:27:06","slug":"dumb-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/dumb-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Dumb Money (2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-8452\" src=\"http:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"dumb money movie poster\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>I love it when a movie is timely and relevant. I refer to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-social-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>The Social Network<\/em><\/a>, the 2010 origin film about the social phenomenon of Facebook. This social media platform had been made available to the public less than four years earlier. Aaron Sorokin and David Fincher worked magic to create such a masterpiece quickly. I still maintain that\u00a0<a class=\"enhancr_card_7479328823\" href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-kings-speech-2010\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><i>The\u00a0<\/i>King&#8217;s<i>\u00a0Speech<\/i><\/a>\u00a0beating\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-social-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>The Social Network<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for Best Picture was one of the biggest shams in Oscar history. It showed just how antiquated and set in their ways The Academy had become. While Craig Gillespie&#8217;s (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/i-tonya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">I, Tonya<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/lars-and-the-real-girl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lars and the Real Girl<\/a><\/em>)\u00a0<em>Dumb Money<\/em>\u00a0is not entirely on the same level as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-social-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>The Social Network<\/em><\/a>, its timely significance cannot be overlooked. Though in a completely different way, the events in\u00a0<em>Dumb Money<\/em>\u00a0are (to many individuals, organizations, and sectors) as impactful as to those in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-social-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>The Social Network<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>It was just two years ago when the skyrocketing stock of GameStop Corp (GME) shattered the airwaves of not just every investment talk show, website, vlog, etc., but also receiving attention from the national evening news broadcasts and front pages of national and international newspapers. GameStop is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. For the last couple dozen years, they have been a mainstay at indoor and outdoor strip malls across the United States. In the first quarter of 2021, GME stock shot up from $4.50 per share to $81.25 in four weeks. The percentage increase was unheard of for a stock devalued so much that the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, trading below $1 per share just one year prior. Something was happening, but exactly what? It&#8217;s a fantastic story of research, belief, risk, luck, trust, and a combined want to stick it to Wall Street.<\/p>\n<p>While you don&#8217;t have to completely know the ins and outs of the stock market to understand this film, it does help to understand a couple of terms many investors might need to familiarize themselves with. The first is\u00a0<strong>Short Selling<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Short Selling is when a seller opens a short position by borrowing shares, usually from a broker-dealer (in the hopes of repurchasing them for a profit if the price declines.<\/li>\n<li>Shares must be borrowed because you cannot sell shares that do not exist.<\/li>\n<li>To close a short position, a trader repurchases the shares on the Market (hopefully at a price less than at which they borrowed the asset) and returns them to the lender or broker.<\/li>\n<li>Essentially, if you short-sell a stock, you predict that the publicly traded company will tank. So, say you borrow 1000 shares of a stock selling at $20. You are investing $20,000. If the stock price falls to $5, and you repurchase those shares, you&#8217;d be repurchasing them at $5000 for a profit of $15,000 (minus fees). However, if you are wrong, your potential for loss is infinite. If that $20 share somehow rose to $100, your 1000 shares (or $20,000 borrowed investment), you&#8217;d be on the hook to repurchase those shares for $100,000.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8453\" src=\"http:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money-2.jpg\" alt=\"dumb money movie still\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money-2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money-2-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That was precisely what Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen &#8211;\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/50-50\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">50\/50<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-disaster-artist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Disaster Artist<\/a><\/em>), founder of hedge fund Melvin Capital, does early in the film, noticing a slight rise in the share price early in January 2021, believing it to be a couple of people who had bought many shares that temporarily elevated the price. Without a moment&#8217;s hesitation, Plotkin short-sold a considerable part of his portfolio, which ultimately resulted in him being the film&#8217;s most significant money loser (this is seen in the film&#8217;s trailer).<\/p>\n<p>Paul Dano (<em>There Will Be Blood,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/love-mercy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Love &amp; Mercy<\/a><\/em>), the film&#8217;s lead, commands the screen as Keith Gill, a financial analyst at Mass Mutual by day and Reddit\/YouTube channel personality (under the handle Roaring Kitty) by night. Keith entertained as much as he educated and took more than his fair share of losses along the way. He held the belief that the Market was underestimating GameStop&#8217;s growth prospects and had the potential to expand its digital capabilities and keep its 60 million loyal customers while incorrectly predicting that the company would go bankrupt, which was something that Plotkin and fellow hedge fund manager Steve Cohen (Vincent D&#8217;Onofrio &#8211;\u00a0<em>Full Metal Jacket, The Player<\/em>) thought was foolish. Thus started our battle of the small investor vs. Wall Street bully, David vs. Goliath, or even good vs. evil to some. The charts, tables, simulations, predictors, and history suggested that the stock would go in one direction. Keith and his followers bucked the trend.<\/p>\n<p>Though Keith&#8217;s initial following was relatively small, he invested $53,000 (most of his life savings) into the stock. His community followed\u00a0and began investing what they could into GameStop, resulting in a\u00a0<strong>Short Squeeze<\/strong>\u00a0or a rapid increase in the price of a stock owing primarily to an excess of short selling of a stock. A short squeeze occurs when there is a lack of supply and excess demand for the stock due to short sellers having to buy stocks to cover their short positions. This results in short sellers, such as Plotkin and Cohn, needing to pay for those borrowed shares at prices that put their companies in jeopardy of failure. Their potential debt continues to stockpile as Keith, along with the support of his wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley &#8211;\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/snowden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Snowden<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/adrift\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Adrift<\/a><\/em>), continues to invest in GameStop instead of selling his shares after he has made millions and millions of dollars. Those following him do the same.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8454\" src=\"http:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money-1.jpg\" alt=\"dumb money movie still\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dumb-money-1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Pete Davidson (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-king-of-staten-island\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The King of Staten Island<\/a>, Bodies Bodies Bodies<\/em>) is Keith&#8217;s brother Kevin, a Lyft driver who still lives in his parent&#8217;s home and borrows his brother&#8217;s car without asking him first. He also serves as the film&#8217;s primary comic relief and does a great job of simplifying what is happening. Often, we learn of a new stock term or necessary information supply through first-hand accounts. Because of the steep learning curve for many unfamiliar with the stock market, Kevin will re-explain it, often to his and Keith&#8217;s parents, in simple terms.<\/p>\n<p>What Gillespie does best is spread the wealth. Each character is allotted their share of screen time to tell their story effectively. Gillespie does a lot of this through Keith&#8217;s followers, who are people all around the country whose lives don&#8217;t overlap and who never have nor will ever meet Keith. This includes Jenny Campbell (America Ferrera (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/barbie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Barbie<\/a>, Lords of Dogtown<\/em>), a nurse and single mother in Pittsburgh who takes Keith&#8217;s advice to earn enough to support herself and her sons. Marcos Garcia (Anthony Ramos (<em>In the Heights, Hamilton<\/em>) is an honest employee at a GameStop store whose ideals are different from his demanding, unsympathetic boss, who pushes him to sell the priciest items, regardless if that&#8217;s what it is in the best interest of the customer. There are also Harmony (Talia Ryder (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/never-rarely-sometimes-always\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Never Rarely Sometimes Always<\/a>, Do Revenge<\/em>) and Riri (Myha&#8217;la Herrold (<em>Bodies Bodies Bodies, Leave the World Behind<\/em>), college students who meet and bond around their investment in the company.<\/p>\n<p>Because the likes of Plotkin, Cohn, and many others in their profession can&#8217;t take the loss of this particular stock (or any other attempts of this being done in the future), they and their parent companies try to go through many exhaustive (illegal and illegal) means to minimize their losses from their nightmare scenario. Gillespie gives us an inside look at the shadiness that took place throughout 2021 and, without being preachy, delivers a scathing message about Wall Street.<\/p>\n<p>The storytelling and editing are the film&#8217;s biggest strengths. Gillespie shows expertise with his in-and-out glimpses of each of a dozen or so characters throughout the timeline. At various times, we will get a subtitle on the screen next to a given character&#8217;s name that tells us of their net worth at that point. This allows us to root for and against certain characters even more as we anticipate the ending we hope for. The ebb and flow of the movie is done in the style of an Adam McKay (<a class=\"enhancr_card_7446444838\" href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-big-short\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Big Short<\/a><i>,\u00a0<\/i><a class=\"enhancr_card_7161169479\" href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/dont-look-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Don&#8217;t<i>\u00a0Look Up<\/i><\/a><i>,\u00a0<\/i><a class=\"enhancr_card_7363376003\" href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/vice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vice<\/a>) movie, but with a more objective lens. Dumb Money is 105 minutes of educational entertainment. Add in performances from (Nick Offerman &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-founder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>The Founder<\/em><\/a>, NBC&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Parks and Recreation<\/em>), Sebastian Stan (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/avengers-infinity-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Avengers: Infinity War<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-martian\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Martian<\/a><\/em>), and Clancy Brown (<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-shawshank-redemption\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>The Shawshank Redemption<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/99-homes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>99 Homes<\/em><\/a>) that aren&#8217;t even included in this review, and you have a one of the few must-see films of 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Plot 9\/10<br \/>\nCharacter Development 9\/10<br \/>\nCharacter Chemistry 8.75\/10<br \/>\nActing 8\/10<br \/>\nScreenplay 8.5\/10<br \/>\nDirecting 9\/10<br \/>\nCinematography 8\/10<br \/>\nSound 7\/10 (much of the music had vulgar language that wasn&#8217;t needed, limited audiences, and made slightly less effective)<br \/>\nHook and Reel 9.25\/10<br \/>\nUniversal Relevance 9.5\/10<br \/>\n86%<\/p>\n<p><strong>Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-big-short\/\"><em>The Big Short<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>Boiler Room<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/the-wolf-of-wall-street\/\"><em>The Wolf of Wall Street<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>Margin Call<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Cosmopolis<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>https:\/\/thecinemaholic.com\/movies-like-dumb-money\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I love it when a movie is timely and relevant. I refer to\u00a0The Social Network, the 2010 origin film about the social phenomenon of Facebook. This social media platform had been made available to the public less than four years earlier. Aaron Sorokin and David Fincher worked magic to create such a masterpiece quickly. I &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/dumb-money\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Dumb Money (2023)<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2728,2862,57,1817,33,1438,20,2861,2863,738,778,2830,1243,537,472,2298,1043],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2728","category-anthony-ramos","category-true-story","category-clancy-brown","category-comedy","category-craig-gillespie","category-drama","category-dumb-money","category-myhala-herrold","category-nick-offerman","category-paul-dano","category-pete-davidson","category-sebastian-stan","category-seth-rogen","category-shailene-woodley","category-talia-ryder","category-vincent-donofrio-actors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8434"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9447,"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8434\/revisions\/9447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}