Craig Gillespie

Dumb Money

23/09/23

Cineworld, Edinburgh

How soon is too soon? The real life tale of the GameStop share crisis happened during lockdown, when most of us were more concerned about where we were going to get toilet paper from than in following the details of a story about share dealings, and – while it might have been a big deal across the water – it didn’t warrant much more than a passing mention in the British press.

Pitched as a sort of David and Goliath story, Dumb Money relates the tale of Keith Gill (the ever likeable Paul Dano), a small time, blue-collar share dealer, who advertises himself as ‘Roaring Kitty’ and who has a predilection for wearing T-shirts with pictures of cute cats on them. Gill has a regular spot on Reddit, where he recommends likely investments to a group of followers. He has recently decided that struggling bricks and mortar computer outlet GameStop is worth saving – so much so, he’s willing to gamble his life savings on it and to encourage his viewers to take a punt.

These include hospital worker, Jenny (America Ferrara), and actual GameStop employee Markus (Anthony Ramos). But as the company’s share price begins to rise, a lot of others decide they want to get in on the action and throw in everything they can spare. What was at first a steady rise suddenly goes up like a rocket. But several hedge fund companies – including Melvin Capital, led by Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogan) – have already invested millions into GameStop, in the confident belief that they will trigger a ‘short squeeze’ scenario. They fully expect the company to go bust and their hedge funds to make millions from its demise. Now, thanks to Gill, they stand to lose everything.

Director Craig Gillespie, who previously gave us the brilliant I, Tonya, does his best to make all this work, but to somebody like me, who has no knowledge (or indeed interest) in the subject of stocks and shares, it’s sometimes hard to understand exactly what’s going on here, or more importantly, why I should care. Perhaps Dumb Money ties in to the American infatuation with the idea of making something from nothing, of taking on the big players and equating money with success.

Every character that appears onscreen is accompanied by a credit informing viewers of their net worth, and the loveable maverick quality that Gill exhibits feels somewhat overstated when we learn that, as a result of all these shenanigans, he himself is now a millionaire.

Though it’s fitfully amusing and occasionally generates some genuine laughs, Dumb Money never really settles into its stride. When the big players rig the game so that small investors can no longer participate, we’re probably supposed to be angry at the fact that there’s no such thing as a level playing field – but the whole story takes place in a world that seems light years away from our experience.

Consequently, it’s hard to feel involved. And therein lies the problem. Those with an interest in such matters may have a much better time with Dumb Money than I do.

2.8 stars

Philip Caveney

I, Tonya

18/02/18

Just when you think  the Oscar race can’t get any tighter, in swaggers I, Tonya, straight out of left field and hits you with a hefty sucker punch, right in the kisser. This noisy, brazen biopic is wonderfully enervating and it’s clear that its claim to be ‘the Good Fellas of figure skating’  isn’t so very wide of the mark. Indeed, the constant jumping from time-frame to time-frame, the fake interviews, the occasional deadpan remarks delivered straight to camera and, above all else, the wonderful classic rock soundtrack – all serve to remind you of Martin Scorcese’s finest movie. But it’s much more than just a pale imitation of that film. There’s so much to admire here, not least Margot Robbie’s incendiary performance in the title role.

Tonya Harding, it seems, had a fight on her hands from her earliest days. Knocked around by her hard-as-nails, chain-smoking momma, LaVona (Alison Janney, in brilliant Oscar-baiting form), beaten up by her ne’er-do-well husband, Jeff (Sebastian Stan), she manages to battle through, performing manoeuvres on the rink that no other skater has ever dared to try –  but her ‘wrong-side-of-the-tracks’ persona doesn’t stand her in good stead with the judges, who like to see a little more deportment doled out alongside the leaps, twirls and pirouettes.

Of course, we all know why she came to wider attention – through the notoriety of a vicious attack on her main rival, Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver), which left her hospitalised just as they were both preparing to skate in the Olympics. Despite being only tangentially involved in the incident – it was originally devised as a series of poison pen letters by Jeff and then pumped up out of all proportion by Tonya’s so-called ‘bodyguard,’ Shawn – Tonya ends up paying the highest price when Shawn decides to go a bit further with the plan and enlists the aid of some very dodgy people indeed. What follows is so bizarre, it can only be a true story…

Director Craig Gillespie handles the material with an edgy, almost experimental approach, throwing in slow-mo and jump cuts with glee – and the mesmerising skating sequences are so cleverly staged, you literally cannot see the joins. That appears to be Robbie on the screen, skating up a storm, but it can’t really be, can it? Like many other recent biopics, there’s a final sequence of interviews showing the real life protagonists, just so you can fully appreciate how close these characterisations keep to the originals, which is particularly surprising in the case of Paul Walter Hauser’s hilariously off-the-wall performance as the cartoonish Shawn. It’s an eye-opener.

Go and see this riotous, hard-hitting and occasionally hilarious film and enjoy what must qualify as one of the strangest sporting stories in recent history. And as for that rock soundtrack, if you can manage to sit in your seat without twitching and foot-tapping along in accompaniment, then you’re made of sterner stuff than me.

4.9 stars

Philip Caveney