The distance between the GameStop/memestock revolution and the release of Dumb Money is surprisingly quick. The actual events that serve as the crux of the movie began in January 2021 and are now being depicted on the big screen just a little more than two years later. But did that accelerated pace help or hurt Dumb Money in how accurate it was to real events?
The movie is based heavily on Ben Mezrich's book The Antisocial Network: The GameStop Short Squeeze and the Ragtag Group of Amateur Traders That Brought Wall Street to Its Knees. Mezrich was on top of the story from the early stages and with the news heavily covering the event and the climactic Congressional testimony easily available, most of the events of the story are relatively accurate. Something that is interesting that both the movie and Mezrich did was use composite characters, mixed in with real-life figures, to help tell the story.
So, who are the real people portrayed in Dumb Money and who are the creations of the movie? We break it down for you right here.
Who are the real people in Dumb Money?
Keith Gill
Let's start off with the main character of Dumb Money, Keith Gill (Paul Dano), aka Roaring Kitty. While Gill is definitely a unique individual, he is 100% real. Gill, under his YouTube and reddit personas and with his trademark red bandana and cat t-shirts, was one of the key figures in uniting a group of retail investors behind GameStop. He also testified before Congress about his involvement in the GameStop saga, as depicted in the movie. Gill did end up making millions off of his investment in GameStop.
Gabe Plotkin
On the other end of the spectrum of the GameStop situation was Gabe Plotkin, who is also a real-life figure. Played by Seth Rogen in the movie, Plotkin is one of the main Wall Street figures trying to short GameStop stock, betting on its decline to make him (more) rich. However, because of retail investors, the plan backfired and Plotkin and his hedge fund, Melvin Capital, took a massive hit and had to be bailed out by another powerful hedge fund, Citadel LLC. However, Melvin Capital eventually closed in May 2022.
Ken Griffin
Ken Griffin in the movie (played by Nick Offerman) and in real-life is the CEO of Citadel LLC, the massive hedge fund that plays a role in the GameStop saga. The movie mirrors real-life when it comes to Griffin's testimony before Congress, where he said that he had no knowledge or involvement in the move by stock trading app Robinhood from preventing users from buying more GameStop stocks when the situation was at its peak.
As far as Griffin's portrayal in the movie, The Chicago Sun-Times quotes Griffin's lawyer in regard to letters sent to Sony in an effort to correct potential inaccuracies in Dumb Money.
"The original script contained numerous fabrications, and Citadel felt an obligation to flag those to Sony. Thanks to our letter, Sony corrected them and the final film did not include a number of falsehoods that would have been blatantly misleading to the audience," said attorney Tom A. Clare.
"While it's a shame the final version still chose to sensationalize events through false implications and inaccuracies,” we are glad our letter gave Sony the chance to correct some of its mistakes before the film was released," Clare added.
The Dumb Money writers deny that Griffin had any influence on their script or the final movie, calling it "pure fiction."
"Anyone who sees this movie will know instantly: Ken Griffin had no role in shaping this film," the writers said in a statement. "He doesn't want you to see it. Which is why you should."
Vlad Tenev
Speaking of Robinhood, both of the app's founders Baiju Bhatt (Rushi Kota in the movie) and Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan) are real-life figures. They founded Robinhood in 2013 as a place where people could trade stocks without a commission fee. This helped many of the retail investors that became involved with the GameStop saga, as the barrier to access the stock market was lowered. The app did eventually stop the purchasing of GameStop stock during the period addressed in the movie and was brought under scrutiny. However, Robinhood is still available to be used today.
Steve Cohen
Another one of the big hedge fund guys in Dumb Money is Steve Cohen, played by Vincent D'Onofrio. Cohen plays more of a side role in the process, mentoring Plotkin, though he was also among the people that bet against GameStop. However, he was not brought before Congress to give testimony. Cohen is best known today as the owner of the New York Mets.
What characters are fictional in Dumb Money?
Where Dumb Money dips more into fiction is with the story of the various retail investors that follow Keith Gill's lead and put their chips down on GameStop, helping to upend the stock market. This includes America Ferrera's nurse Jenny, Anthony Ramos' GameStop employee Marcus, Myha'la Herrold's Riri and Talia Ryder's Harmony.
These characters are composites of various real-life investors who helped create the GameStop surge, but their stories and monetary gains depicted in the movie are meant more to be representative rather than a specific example.
Here's how to watch Dumb Money right now. You can also read What to Watch's Dumb Money review.
