‘Dumb Money’ Is Smart Enough for the Oscars, With Standout Turns From Paul Dano, Pete Davidson and America Ferrera
09.09.2023 - 00:33
/ variety.com
Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Sony Pictures’ “Dumb Money” could be the most frightening horror movie this year, and the Oscars would be smart to embrace it. From the critically acclaimed director Craig Gillespie, his smart and at times tragic look at the GameStop stock story of 2021 entertained the audiences of the Toronto Film Festival on Friday night where it held its world premiere.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey introduced the film and Gillespie brought up his fellow producers Aaron Ryder and Teddy Schwarzman, along with EPs and writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, who sported the film’s title on each of their purses. “Dumb Money” is based on the book “The Antisocial Network” by Ben Mezrich.
It tells the true story of a group of amateur investors from the Reddit page WallStreetBets who banded together to put the squeeze on at least two hedge funds that had bet that GameStop shares would fall. The large ensemble cast includes Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Seth Rogen, Dane DeHaan, Talia Ryder, Rushi Kota and Myha’la Herrold.
Yet again, we have another worthy contender for best cast ensemble at the SAG Awards. With Gillespie’s signature quick edits and terrific needle drops like Cardi B’s “WAP,” the film’s quick pace and effective storytelling will be appetizing to multiple branches of the Academy.
One of the clearest pathways is adapted screenplay, despite a crowded race already that includes “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Oppenheimer.” Similar to J.C. Chandor’s nominated work for “Margin Call,” the movie makes the overly complicated processes of financial trades and stocks feasible for the non-pro viewer to
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