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Garfield may be know for his role as afflicted teen Peter Parker or Spider-Man by many, while audiences may know Shannon best for his villainous turn as General Zod in the recent Superman reboot Man of Steel. The best part about watching 99 Homes is analyzing these men, and seeing them transform before our eyes into the demons that haunt the streets and doorsteps of everyday people. Sheltered in our own little seats and watching the unfortunate tragedy unfold on-screen, this compassionate slice of other people's reality is one of the most engaging features of 2014. Founded on concrete performances, sturdy direction and a narrative with a good roof on its head, 99 Homes is built to last. It's a film worth seeing just for the story, but with the superb performances, it makes a film you need to see.
99 Homes tells the story of a single father who still lives with his mother in his childhood home having to deal with an eviction and the unexpected events that follow. Bahrani does a very good job at keeping you caught up in the story being told, although the entire greed angle is something we've seen several times before. The cinematography, music score and all the technical stuff is quite good. Of course, it's the performances that make the film so memorable with Garfield turning in his best work to date. He has a lot of emotions to play here and perfectly nails them.
Casting
What the remarkable and recent “The Big Short” showed at a larger, almost abstract, scale, 99 Homes illuminates from within, centering on two characters rivaling, competing and despising themselves while learning from each other. One, how to become wealthy while waiving his scruples, and the other how to prove that everyone is a potential asshole should they have the correct role-model. Also, although the movie is set in Orlando, Florida , a substantial amount of the film was shot in New Orleans — a place wherein the sun never lies, only the night does in days of carnival. Unfortunately, the movie looks kind of bleh, and there is nothing very special about the cinematography, the editing, or even at times, the direction. But it has an awesome screenplay and a great cast which brings it up a lot. This fine element of 99 Homes keeps Bahrani’s tradition of bustlingly tragic and anguished characters alive with vivid, exciting, and mostly unpredictable results.
The circumstances it portrays is very real and relevant to people in lower income brackets, and their pain of losing their homes is piercingly recreated. I feel so sorry for Dennis because he appears to be such a hard-working, honest and amicable guy. As the story progresses, he is faced with various moral dilemmas.
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99 homes is about the corruption of Dennis Nash, played by Andrew Garfield as he does what he has to do to get back his home for his mom and his child, after it being taken away from by Rick Carver, played by Micheal Shannon. Ironically Dennis goes to work for the enemy becoming the very person that put him in this situation. Soon the construction work leads to a more serious ethical dilemma when Rick offers Dennis a way to buy back his house—the catch is he has to do evictions himself, carrying a gun for protection. It's a nightmare scenario that actually played out for all too many families during the financial crisis just a few short years ago.
A working guy , who is evicted from his home, attempts to make his way up the capitalist dungheap by making himself useful to the guy whose company oversaw the eviction. Michael Shannon adds another notch to his creepy weirdo belt by playing a sleazy realtor feeding off the misfortune of those affected by America's housing market collapse in this American tragedy. 99 Homes did received several backlash due to controversy which caused the film to do poorly at the box office, and many of the trailers were not as put as what they needed to be. However, the film has been praised by many majority critics for its daring subject matter and overall tenacious acting . Andrew Garfield continues to show himself as one of the best young actors working, and this really should be sort of a star-making role for Michael Shannon as well.
Where to watch
In a desperate move to secure a huge contract, Carver forges papers for foreclosure proceedings against a family Dennis knows personally. Features a gut wrenching eviction scene that establishes the tone for the rest of the film. It's the stuff they don't show you on reality flip shows, the personal, tragic side of foreclosure. Andrew Garfield, as a man who has "failed" in his duty as protector and provider, has an almost constant sense of panic throughout, catching his breath in his throat, his posture tight and alert.
Tight as a drum writing and terrific performances from Garfield, Shannon, plus Laura Dern as Dennis's mother, represent a solid investment of your time. 99 HOMES features award-worthy performances, an original premise that speaks so much truth, but contains a climax that is hard to like, leaving you with a bad taste in your mouth. Bahrani's vérité gets somewhat lost among his amplified quasi-thrillery plot beats, but this low-key master continues to grow with a wider scope and commanding actors.
Garfield is fine although his character's obsession with his childhood home gets into the way. It also doesn't make sense that he couldn't simply move to another motel. Heck, he could move his family temporarily into one of their foreclosed properties for two weeks.
From the idea of money and how to handle your money and also the banking system, it's an accurate image of our society today. Who knows how it will hold up twenty years down the road due to how society is going to change but for now 99 Home knows exactly what's going in the world now and tells it's story in a very original way. In 99 Homes, there is a point in the film where our villain states that people get too emotional about houses, at the end of the day it is a rectangular box. 99 Homes is one of the most complete and appealing films of Bahrani's career. The blood is from a homeowner who'd rather kill himself than be kicked out of his home by Realtor Rick Carver .
A drama of great power and subtlety, 99 HOMES manages to talk about one of today's most pressing and troubling issues without getting preachy or overbearing. At the same time, the movie borrows the classical structure of the Faust story while still managing to feel immediate and relevant. Parents need to know that 99 Homes is a powerful, thought-provoking indie drama that weaves the recent financial crisis with the classic Faust legend. Expect a couple of scenes of bloody violence and gore, a dead body, and some fighting, as well as a house filled with excrement. Language is fairly strong, with uses of "f--k," "s--t," "c--ksucker," and "a--hole." There's some sexual innuendo and passionate kissing, as well as scantily clad women and objectification of female characters.
Rick Carver is the real estate agent who forecloses the properties on behalf of the bank. This fine element of 99 Homes keeps Bahrani's tradition of bustlingly tragic and anguished characters alive with vivid, exciting, and mostly unpredictable results. The eyes and ears of the viewer is played by Andrew Garfield, less impressive in a more subtle part. Garfield isn't bad when he gets the opportunity - he was fine in THE SOCIAL NETWORK - and he's more than believable as the desperate young man in this. Laura Dern and Clancy Brown flesh out the rest of the cast. The film is by turns intense, awkward, moving, and exciting, but always engrossing and not to mention gripping.
The film competed for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. It won Grand Prix at 2015 Deauville American Film Festival. It also screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in a limited release on September 25, 2015 and wide expansion starting October 9, by Broad Green Pictures.
99 Homes shouldn't be described as the typical tour-de-force, but more of a tour-de-fact cinematic achievement. The filmmaker, whose adamant cinematic attitude is almost non- apologetic on-screen, choosing to highlight a truly sad time in American history. Bahrani's protagonist is Dennis Nash, played wonderfully by Andrew Garfield. Holding his own against a larger than life acting force that is Shannon, Garfield's Nash allows himself to feed off Carver's greed and sinisterly convincing monologues with scenes of heart-wrench, grit and sensitivity. Thankfully, Bahrani doesn't exactly abandon ship in his character building philosophy with his main protagonist and antagonist in the film. He is able to put more focus on his narrative and visual style here, thanks to actor Shannon, who helps maintain the flow of Carver as well as the people around him.
