Review of 99 Homes (2015) by Adam R — 31 May 2016

If The Big Short explored the 2008 housing crisis from the rich businessman's point of view, then 99 Homes takes on a more "working man" approach. Here we are given a very intimate look at the classic "power corrupts" story being anchored by Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon. Both actors have proven in more recent years that they are capable of tackling anything and here they wholeheartedly sink their teeth into the material. Shannon is especially the MVP here as the equally charismatic and heartless businessman who leads Garfield's innocent contractor astray. It's one of those performances that manages to repulse and charm you at the same time. Characters like these are hard to pull off because if they're performed poorly, you're left wondering how anybody could be drawn to someone so horrible but Shannon pulls it off in stride and he becomes very believable. All the performances are great though. Garfield's slow descent into the underworld of unethical business practices is highly engaging as are his more tender moments with his son and mother (the latter played by the excellent Laura Dern), who try their best to keep him grounded.

What does sink this film a bit is that this is still a very familiar story. As noted, it's a "power corrupts" morality tale and it's one that we've seen many times before. It's still executed very well mind you, but it doesn't have many surprises in store. The big climatic ending is also a tad too over the top. For a movie that felt so real for its entire running time, this was a strange, sharp turn into the absurd. I've heard differing reports that what occurs in the ending actually happened in real life but I can't confirm that.

99 Homes is still a great movie with some excellent performances that will keep you interested from beginning to end.