Paul Dano Leads All-Star Cast In New 'Dumb Money' Trailer About Gamestop Short Squeeze

By Andrew Sanford | Film | June 22, 2023 |

By Andrew Sanford | Film | June 22, 2023 |

Movie trailers are magic. They can make bad movies look amazing. They can cause great films to look achingly dull. A well-edited trailer can add stakes and excitement to what should be an otherwise benign situation. With a few quick cuts and a bombastic backbeat, one could find themselves interested in a story they previously had no desire to see brought to life. That is the position I find myself in with the new trailer for Dumb Money.

Back in 2021, Gamestop stocks were doing so poorly that a bunch of rich dudes thought they could cash in on that failure. A bunch of people online decided to buy up that stock, leading to a chunk of those dudes losing a bunch of money. One man, Keith Gill, kicked off this whole squeeze and made a lot of money. Others weren’t as lucky.

I may be oversimplifying the situation, but that illustrates my lack of interest in the story. I love it when the mega-rich fail, but stock talk makes my eyes glaze over. That’s why, if you were to tell me about the film Dumb Money, which will chronicle this debacle, I would not have been interested. The trailer, however, has my attention.

Dumb Money stars Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, America Ferrera, Pete Davidson, and Vincent D’Onofrio. It looks exciting and funny. There’s a bite to it. Paul Dano, fresh off an impeccable performance in The Fabelmans, leads the charge with a grounded relatability to the film. It could be that I am under the sway of a movie trailer’s powers, but I don’t care.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that D’Onofrio plays the owner of the New York Mets, Steve Cohen. Cohen, the largest single donor to the campaign of New York’s worst Mayor, Eric Adams, is currently trying to force a casino on the people of Queens, NY. Seeing him portrayed as a villain is enticing, to say the least.