'Dumb Money' is funny, smart movie about sticking it to the 1%. And who doesn't love that?

If the villains are evil enough, everyone starts to look like a hero.

And who are bigger villains than hedge-fund managers and crooked titans of Wall Street? They’re easy marks, and “Dumb Money,” Craig Gillespie’s wildly entertaining film about the GameStop stock explosion in 2021, knows it. That assurance, along with an inventive performance by Paul Dano as Keith Gill, who almost inadvertently orchestrated the whole thing, goes a long way.

Gill, a broker at MassMutual, is not exactly a heavy hitter in the financial world. But he has some offbeat ideas. At night he makes YouTube videos as Roaring Kitty, wearing a headband like a pirate seated in front of a background of his balance sheet.

What is the story of ‘Dumb Money?’

Wall Street is trying to short GameStop — bet against it — but Gill thinks it’s an undervalued stock, not only touting its virtues in his videos but buying a bunch himself. So do a bunch of his followers, and soon the price of GameStop stock is through the roof. And then it bursts right through the roof. “To the moon” becomes one of the many slogans the ragtag group of disparate investors adopt, some more colorful (and politically incorrect) than others.

Through a confluence of factors — money stuff, which thankfully you do not have to be an expert on, as Gillespie explains things pretty clearly — the big money guys stand to lose their shirts. Or at least an expensive pair of cuff links. They’re smart money, you see, at least in their own eyes. And all of these little independent investors are dumb money.

Until they’re not.

At one point Gabe Plotkin (an outstanding Seth Rogen) is losing $1 billion a day. A DAY. He needs money from investors, who include Steve Cohen, who Vincent D’Onofrio portrays as a jolly billionaire mostly in it for the fun of tweaking Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman), an even richer billionaire. (The real-life Griffin is so incensed by his portrayal he’s threatening legal action.)

The super rich — Plotkin buys the Florida mansion next door to his Florida mansion so that he can tear it down and build a tennis court — start freaking out. And they have a lot of weapons at their disposal.

Meanwhile, the “dumb money” crowd goes all in, following Gill’s lead. Jenny (America Ferrera), a nurse and single mother; Marcos (Anthony Ramos), a GameStop clerk; and college students Harmony (Talia Ryder) and Riri (Myha’la Herrold) are all suddenly rich, relatively speaking, at least on paper.

So is Gill, who is now a millionaire. But he’s got to sell the stock to realize its cash value, something his brother Kevin (Pete Davidson, in exactly the kind of goofy role perfect for him) and his wife (Shailene Woodley) and parents remind him of, often.

But Gill is all in, and his social media followers treat him like a guru until the whole dumb money crowd starts to feel a little cult-like. How long will the stock continue to rise? If it craters, after all, they’ll be the losers.

It’s no secret how things turn out. (Gillespie weaves actual congressional hearing footage in with the actors’ portrayals.) And it’s not at all certain that this was the epic victory for the little guy Gillespie makes it out to be.

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Echoes of ’The Social Network’ and ‘The Big Short’ abound

Whenever Gillespie introduces a new character he includes an on-screen graphic listing their net worth. It’s just another method to illustrate this as a battle between the haves and have-nots. (While Plotkin is trying to get his tennis court built, Gill is in the basement drinking beer and telling his followers to hold.)

It’s really fun. There are elements of “The Social Network” and “The Big Short” all over the place. If “Dumb Money” isn’t as good as either of those films, at least Gillespie’s pacing is brisk, lending his movie a real sense of excitement. Minutiae is important when you’re investing your life savings, a little less so when you’re watching a movie about someone else doing it. Gillespie strikes a good balance. It doesn’t matter if you know how it all turns out. You’ll still be tempted to yell advice to the screen while Jenny is weighing whether to sell or hold.

“Dumb Money” isn’t a documentary, and it’s not a go-to guide for beginning investors. It’s not trying to be. It’s trying to be something a little less weighty and a lot more fun than that, and it succeeds.

‘Dumb Money’ 4 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Craig Gillespie.

Cast: Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson.

Rating: R for pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, Sept. 22.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X, formerly known as Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Dumb Money' movie review: Darkly comic look at GameStop stock bust