Miramax Presents The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists.
Every installment asks the same five questions. This week’s subject is Craig Gillespie, whose film Dumb Money opens today. After a shaky start on his feature debut on Mr. Woodcock, the Australian-born filmmaker settled in with the quirky Ryan Gosling-starrer Lars and the Real Girl. While he directed the Disney pic Cruella and will make the sequel post-strike, he has found a true niche telling true story that lend themselves to star vehicles with a combination of drama, comedy and a strong sense of the underdog protagonist. He followed I, Tonya, a big hit that starred Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding, and now Dumb Money. That film stars Paul Dano as Keith Gill, whose belief in the GameStop stock halted hedge funds attempts to strangle the retail chain in a short squeeze maneuver. The regular folks who followed Gill created a grassroots movement, and a screw you to the obscenely wealthy. Shailene Woodley, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Seth Rogen, and Nick Offerman also star.
Here, Gillespie explains how the Martin Scorsese-directed classic Goodfellas showed him how one could tell a true story, and invest characters good and bad with personalities that create rooting interest, and deftly mix comedy with drama.
