Review: 99 Homes

A foreclosure drama set within the framework of a gangster thriller, 99 Homes is a passionate if occasionally heavy-handed morality tale that derives its power from the topical subject matter and the first-rate performances by Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield.

This is a film that may begin in blood and end with an armed stand-off, but it is the emotional brutality that comprises the most shocking acts of violence. Witness the plight of Dennis Nash (Garfield), a construction worker who lives in a suburban Orlando home with his hairdresser mother, Lynn (Laura Dern), and his son, Connor (Noah Lomax). Times are tough, he's just lost a construction gig, and he's fallen three months behind his bank payments. When real-estate broker Rick Carver (Shannon) appears on their doorstep and tells them to vacate the premises, the spectacle of Dennis' helpless fury, Lynn's fragile ferocity, the cops nearly strong-arming the now-trespassing former tenants, and the bluntly efficient Carver overseeing their eviction is ugly, appalling and enraging.

Dennis and his family check into a cheap motel occupied by others who have experienced the indignity of eviction, thought they would be in the motel for a couple of days, and have yet to find solid financial footing years later. Embarrassed by his situation but more ashamed that is has meant uprooting his son from his family home, his neighbourhood school, and the comfort of all his friends, Dennis attempts to find work but the prospects are slim.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and no measure is more desperate than Dennis willingly working for the very man who kicked him out of his own home. Initially doing cleaning and repair work on the houses recently seized by Carver, Dennis soon becomes Carver's protege and learns how his employer rose from a blue-collar background to build a lucrative real estate empire by not only exploiting government and banking rules to force struggling owners out of their homes, but also by removing fittings and appliances from the abandoned residences and then charging the government for their repair and replacement. The money - and Carver's promise that he will help Dennis get his home back - soon erode Dennis' moral reservations. As Carver coolly says, why drown with the rest when you have the means to save yourself?

Its social, economic and political themes aside, 99 Homes ably functions as an old-fashioned gangster story in which the innocent is charmed into a Faustian bargain by the most charismatic of devils. Shannon is almost too good as Carver, a smooth operator with an extreme Darwinian mentality. Similarly, Garfield surpasses himself here, reminding us of what emotional depths he was capable of in films such as Boy A, Never Let Me Go, and The Social Network before superhero spandex imprisoned him.

Director Ramin Bahrani drives home the message with force and conviction. He's definitely not subtle, but his unabashed indignation of the injustices rained upon decent, hardworking people makes for a chilling and sobering watch. As if to ensure no confusion results from the delivery of that message, Bahrani overdoes it a tad in his screenplay, often spelling out what Garfield and especially Shannon have already so skillfully conveyed.

And yet...it's hard to deny the bracing effect of Carver's truth as written by Bahrani: America doesn't bail out losers, it only bails out the winners.

99 Homes

Directed by: Ramin Bahrani

Written by: Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi, Bahareh Azimi

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Noah Lomax, Tim Guinee, Clancy Brown