Review of 99 Homes (2015) by Maksim B — 06 Feb 2016

99 Homes is a brutally realistic, gut-wrenching social drama which deserved to be something more than a formidable B-movie. Solid and thoughtful narrative, convincing performances and moral complexity which will provoke you or even outrage you, this movie is a splendid depiction of the economic and house market meltdown in 2008, the countless social tragedies and how some tried to gain the maximum benefit of it.

Dennis (Andrew Garfield) is a construction worker and a single father living together with his unemployed mother in their family house. When he loses his job the reality he faces is ruthless and soon he and his family are evicted from their home. Unwilling to surrender to living in a community motel, Dennis get the chance to join the crew of the real estate shark Rick Carver (Michael Shannon) and soon to become his right hand. As Denis joins the other side of the house market crises (the one of the ruthless business sharks as Carver) the young father gets constantly confronted with murky and unethical (if not illegal) business practices.

The story develops slowly, with attention to the small details, the personal dramas and dreams of the different participants. Director Ramin Bahrani shows remarkable feeling for changing the mood in different scenes as his delivery zig-zags between moments of almost melancholic sadness and moments of tensed and emotional conflicts. There are no entirely good or entirely bad characters in the movie and everyone is a victim of the system, even Rick Carver. Speaking of him it must mentioned that Michael Shannon's performance is one of the main reasons why 99 Homes is such a gripping and captivating delivery. Andrew Garfield, on the contrary, brings in quite a melodramatic performance that does not always convince.

In conclusion, 99 Homes is a top-notch B-movie which should have received much bigger attention from the mainstream audiences if not for the story or the acting, then for the topic that it explores in a provoking and thoughtful way.