At its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Dumb Money (Stupidly rich) caused hilarity in the packed room of Roy Thomson Hall. And for good reason: the film was directed by Craig Gillespie, who here reconnects with satire and biographical narrative, a combination having already succeeded in I, Tonya (Me, Tonya).
The film returns to the incredible but true story of Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, aka DeepFuckingValue, a financial analyst whose videos and interventions on social networks about the relevance of investing in the company GameStop won the support of so many people that the stock value exploded. This, to the great dismay of Wall Street bonzes having instead bet on a collapse. Dry subject? Not with Craig Gillespie at the helm.
“I actually experienced this story through my 24-year-old son: he was living at home during the pandemic and he was avidly following Keith Gill and invested in GameStop,” explains the director of Cruella during an exclusive interview.
“I watched my son go through this financial roller coaster; it was incredible. He checked the stock value every three minutes. When Keith’s initial investment increased fifty-fold, I asked my son the same question the characters are asked in the movie: “Are you selling?” »
You should know that the more these unexpected hordes of small investors galvanized by Keith Gill (Paul Dano) did like the latter and refused to sell, instead waiting to see if the value would rise further, the more the speculative fund Melvin Capital Management lost money. ‘money. At one point, these losses amounted to US$1 billion per day for its founder, Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen).
The following shows how various institutional “big players” attempted to break up this unfortunate popular movement.
Rigorous scenario
The film may be furiously funny, but it is no less rigorous in its recall of the facts. In this regard, Craig Gillespie insists on the quality of the script by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, who collaborated on the series Orange Is the New Black and the future film Wolfmanwhich will star Ryan Gosling.
The story they concocted is indeed as scathing as it is intelligent, and not devoid of emotion. The co-writers also managed to summon something more abstract, as the filmmaker points out:
“Lauren and Rebecca’s storyline perfectly captures the intensity I witnessed in my own home. »
Craig Gillespie indicates in the same breath that the scenario was not fixed at all. Indeed, its approach is one of openness, so that good ideas, wherever they come from, are always welcome.
“I think of the sequence between Keith and his brother Kevin [Pete Davidson]at the running circuit [où va chaque jour s’entraîner le premier]. I wanted us to add a scene where these two reconcile. Lauren and Rebecca did some research, and came across an article about Kevin running a mile on a stormy night, stark naked. In the scene they wrote, Kevin evokes this feat of arms to encourage his brother Keith to take a risk, to do like him and to “run with the grain” — figuratively and not literally in his case. »
And the two brothers, who are completely opposed, come together through laughter. In this case, this new scene gave rise to another.
“One night Paul called me and said it would be nice to echo that moment at the very end of the film. »
This is how Craig Gillespie filmed Paul Dano and Pete Davidson running in their simplest device on the said circuit, this time on a clear night.
Still on the subject of Paul Dano, Craig Gillespie has nothing but good words for the actor. After notably shining in There Will Be Blood (There will be blood), by Paul Thomas Anderson, 12 Years a Slave (Slave for twelve years), by Steve McQueen, and Prisoners (Prisoners), by Denis Villeneuve, Dano delivers another dazzling performance.
“Paul is a truly serious actor, in the best possible sense: he increases the quality of any film with his presence alone,” says Craig Gillespie.
“He’s so prepared: he listened to all of Keith Gill’s videos before filming, which was the equivalent of seven hours of material a week for a year. He was a bit of a keeper of all this documentation, and sometimes he would say to me something like: “There’s this thing that Keith said that we could include in this place.” A lot of what Paul says in the film is verbatim. »
Humor and life
When asked why comedy, especially that which is tinged with satire, suits him so much, Craig Gillespie hesitates for a moment, thoughtfully.
“My vision of comedy in cinema is that it has to be like in real life. In your family, or with your friends, during pleasant, or intense, or uncomfortable situations, humor is used in many ways: to bring people together, to create a diversion, as armor… But in short, humor is a constant in our lives. Humor also acts as a revealing agent: it tells us about a person, about their way of interacting. And when you translate that to cinema, it seems more authentic, in addition to being entertaining. In a script, I always look for those moments where a note of humor will transform the content of a scene in an unexpected way. »
In Dumb Money, we speak more of a comic symphony than of scattered notes. However, the level of fun will not be the same for everyone, as the director points out.
“The perception of this story is subjective. My way of telling it, of staging it, is just as much. The spectacle of a failed Wall Street billionaire will make most people howl with laughter, but probably won’t make rich people laugh. When you watch a film, you choose a side based on who you are and your experience: it’s very personal. The relationship with humor is very personal. »
Judging by the number of spectators slapping their thighs at TIFF, there couldn’t have been any big millionaires and billionaires in the room. The reflection makes Craig Gillespie smile.
“Looking at people’s reaction to the film, I see that they are laughing, but they are also angry. It makes me happy, because that’s exactly what I was hoping to create: that we would be entertained, that we would have fun, but that we would feel a sense of outrage. »
The film Dumb Money will be on display in Montreal on September 22 and then throughout Quebec on September 29. François Lévesque is in Toronto thanks to the support of Telefilm Canada.