Review: 99 Homes

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And you thought the people in Up in the Air had tough jobs.

Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) is a single father living with his mother (Laura Dern) in their family home. After some bad advice from a banker, and the construction crew he works with going under, Nash finds himself evicted from their home by a seedy real estate broker, Rick Carver. (Michael Shannon) After he's forced to move his family into a dingy motel, he returns to Carver to confront one of the men that that moved his stuff, only for Carver to offer him a job, first on maintenance, then it quickly escalates to kicking other people out of their homes. But he's so hard up for money, he has no choice.

I appreciate the caliber of asshole Michael Shannon is capable of playing. Rick Carver's temper and flat out douche baggery is practically a work of art. So much so that I didn't even hate the guy. I was too impressed. Garfield, who I think is a very strong actor was actually kind of bad compared to Shannon. Though bad for Garfield isn't terrible by any means.

The film could've used a bit more polishing. It felt poorly edited and the ending, while it worked, may have benefited from a different approach. The story is good and it's worth it for the performance of Michael Shannon alone.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "I can. I'm a Doppler fucking radar." - Rick Carver (Michael Shannon)

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 27, 2015 at 8:00 AM

    I always prefer Shannon when he's not in douche mode. I don't know why, but he does that so much that it almost verges is caricature at times. He has so much talent, but I find he's almost always typecast. Still...this has gotten enough good ink for me to be interested.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 27, 2015 at 11:12 AM

      He's very typecast, which he's even pointed out himself and is trying to get out of, but he plays such a good asshole. lol I love the guy no matter what.

      Delete
  2. m.brownOctober 27, 2015 at 8:10 AM

    I really wanted to see this, as I found the trailer pretty damn compelling. After reading this however, it sounds like it can wait. I mean, that new Vin Diesel movie isn't going to watch itself, right?

    Bullshit aside, I love what you say about Shannon: so good you can't even hate him. That sounds about right. Dude's amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 27, 2015 at 11:11 AM

      LOL Witch Huntaaahhhs!

      I'm to the point where I root for Michael Shannon to go insane. He was so subdued (but still good) in The Harvest. And I was like "Come on man, your wife is crazy...kill her!" That's bad.

      Delete
  3. VanishedfrontierOctober 27, 2015 at 11:18 AM

    "And you thought the people in Up in the Air had tough jobs." - I laughed. When I saw the trailer, it's exactly what crossed my mind. It's on my watchlist, so I must say the poorly edited et need polishing part tells me there is no rush.

    About Michael Shannon, at the beginning of Boardwalk Empire, he told how he was happy to play a good, normal guy and then... he discovered it wasn't really the case ! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 27, 2015 at 2:36 PM

      LOL Yeah, Van Alden stayed super normal for all of two episodes.

      Delete
  4. BirgitOctober 29, 2015 at 11:49 AM

    I have not heard of this film but the premise sounds interesting

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  5. JoshNovember 2, 2015 at 6:04 AM

    I have high hopes for this one, especially the performances by Garfield and Shannon. Can't wait to see it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 2, 2015 at 1:43 PM

      I hope you like it when you do. Shannon is especially great.

      Delete

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