Craig Gillespie is on a roll. The director has been killing it since I, Tonya was a critical success in 2017, following it up with Cruella (my pick for the 2nd best film of 2021), the Hulu mini-series Pam & Tommy, and now this year’s fun GameStop stock docu-comedy Dumb Money.
Our friends at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment sent us a copy of the Dumb Money Blu-ray, which is now available to buy.
Dumb Money is the ultimate David vs. Goliath tale, based on the insane true story of everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich by turning GameStop (the mall video game store) into the world’s hottest company. In the middle of everything is regular guy Keith Gill (Paul Dano), who starts it all
by sinking his life savings into the stock and posting about it. When his social posts start blowing up, so does his life and the lives of everyone following him. As a stock tip becomes a movement, everyone gets rich – until the billionaires fight back, and both sides find their worlds turned upside down.
Besides Dano, the film also stars Pete Davidson as Gill’s brother, Shailene Woodley as Gill’s wife, Seth Rogan, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Nick Offerman as billionaires Gabe Plotkin, Steve Cohen, and Ken Griffin, and America Ferrera, Myyha’la, Anthony Ramos, and Talia Ryder as some of the GameStop “dumb money” investors inspired by Gill.
This is a pretty solid presentation. Video quality is good, with vibrant colors and dark blacks, leading to a very nice contrast. The image looks clean and has a sharp focus that presents texture details.
The audio quality is superb. The film has a fantastic soundtrack beginning with Cardi B’s WAP blaring as the film opens. The variety of hip-hop songs are contrasted with a nice score from Will Bates. Together, the music fills the speakers.
The disc is a little short on extras. There are two short promotional featurettes-Fat Cats vs. The Roaring Kitty (8 minutes), and Diamond Hand Ensemble (6 minutes). Both feature Gillespie and the actors talking about the characters and story. They are well made and interesting, but way too short. There are also 3 minutes of deleted and extended scenes that add nothing special. There is, however, a wonderful audio commentary track with Writers & Executive Producers Lauen Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo. Their conversation is entertaining and never boring–a rare treat in the world of audio commentaries.
A highlight of the disc though is the music that plays over the menu screen. I’m not kidding–I left it on the menu screen for over an hour and danced in front of my embarrassed wife and daughter every time they walked in the room. The music is still playing now as I’m typing this. It might be the greatest menu music of all time.
Overall, this is a fun movie and one worth owning.
MOVIE: A-
ViDEO QUALITY: A
AUDIO QUALITY: A+
BONUS FEATURES: B-
OVERALL VALUE: A-
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