99 Homes

Micheal Shannon really controls the screen when he's on it. He plays villain well, especially well in this film, showing both sides of the coin.

99 Homes expresses how everyone was effected by the economy drop and how using the excuse of keeping afloat as a way to let doing what you have to do corrupt you.

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.

You can't help to be emotional about 99 Homes, it's a movie about a period in history but it's so recent, you either are or know someone who has a story similar. Attacking such current events add to the drama and the tension of the movie.

It was interesting to watch this narration unfold and well acted by Micheal Shannon and Andrew Garfield. Very good watch.

The movie could have been a bit more joyful I think towards the end and I didn't care for the mother's enmeshed relationship with her son. I didn't see much wrong with the house that was purchased for his mother and son. I realize the message is about be nice to those who are being evicted. Although the reality is there are some pretty s***** people who are irresponsible and who are bad tenants and there are squatters. The movie doesn't tell the whole picture of what really goes on. It's not black and white. In other words being a successful realtor or wealthy person does not mean you are the bad guy necessarily. The other side of the coin is that not all people who are being evicted are good people.

The movie starts out well, and the first eviction scene will leave you shaking in your boots imagining your family and belongings getting foreclosed and tossed into the street. I can't think of another film that focuses on the eviction process so intensely.

You're better skipping the end of the movie (after the scene with the old man). The last forty minutes of the film are not satisfying at all, and just gets dumb with characters acting more and more ridiculously. In the beginning of the movie, many of the characters act over the top for the sake of dramatic tension, but it it gets to be too much towards the end.

For most of the running time, 99 HOMES is an exemplary thriller. It's always a delight when you find a film detailing a subject matter that's not been covered very much in film before and the financial crash of 2008 is the topic here, in particularly the glut of ill-conceived sub-prime mortgages in America that led to the worldwide recession. The film follows the fortunes of a real estate broker who makes a living from evicting people from their homes.

It's an electrifying premise and one that's superbly directed by Ramin Bahrani who brings a documentary-style realism to his work. Certainly the camera-work is fantastic, often hand held and getting into the faces of the actors so that you feel close up and involved with the situations. However, the real ace up the sleeve is the casting of Michael Shannon as the criminal broker; he gives a performance of reptilian magnitude as an amoral money-hunter and he's simply magnificent. I loved this guy in BOARDWALK EMPIRE and he continues to go from strength to strength here.

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 only misstep is a rather silly sub-plot in which Garfield tries to hide his work from his family, which feels rather irrelevant (if he's putting food on the table, what does it matter?). The other problem is the trite Hollywood ending; for a film that's exemplified gritty realism throughout, to cop out in this way is a real joke. Other than those problems, it's fine.

The movie started off strong... great characters ... and good performances The last 20min the movie just started taken a turn for the worst .... Made no sense.