99 Homes

Dir: Ramin Bahrani

2014

***

99 Homes is an interesting economic parable about the current real estate market and I’m not at all surprised to learn that it is based on a true story. However, I feel that the subject is strong enough on its own, without the need for the unfortunate and unsuitable climactic ending the film has. The film tells the story of a single father called Dennis (played by Andrew Garfield) who supports his son and unemployed mother (Laura Dern) through construction work. When work dries up and he can’t find anything else, the banks soon chase him for missed payments. This escalates quickly and before they know it the family is evicted from the home they grew up in. A nightmare scenario that is all too believable in this day and age, as it is said, we are all only a couple of payslips away from homelessness. Eviction itself is a thriving business for some and the resale of properties is a murky world – and not always a legal one. The real estate operator who evicts the family is played by the brilliant Michael Shannon and is a very contemporary villain. He is a sly suited gentleman in it for himself but there are other sides to him, he is more complex then just a greedy bad guy. When he offers Dennis the chance to join him, his moral judgment is brought into question. All Dennis wants to do is earn enough money to buy back his family home, the house he was born in, but when the money starts coming in, he finds it difficult to walk away. This is the classic tale of the temptations of capitalism. Many people would follow Dennis’s path, but it isn’t about ethics, it is about survival. Ethics and morals don’t feed your children in a capitalist world, blaming those who cant pay their rising bills is ignoring the fact the system doesn’t work. I would have liked to have seen this more in Ramin Bahrani’s script, and as much as I liked the premise and how it could develop, I was disappointed that it all ended in a shoot out. These situation do push people to the limits but it would have been nice to look behind the curtain a little more, as far as the overall problem is concerned. Andrew Garfield wouldn’t have been my first choice for the role but he does a good enough job. Michael Shannon is perfectly cast however, bringing several important layers to his character that I would hazard a guess weren’t necessarily in the original script. The last third of the film could have been handled better I feel, however I don’t think it was the weakest element of the film. I hate to admit it but it was the great Laura Dern who spoiled a lot of this film for me. I can’t quite believe it myself, as I love Laura Dern, but her performance is dreadful, so much so that it becomes a distraction. To be fair her character is incredibly badly written, she plays a pathetic character, which is hard to attach to such a fantastic actor, no matter how good of an actor they are. Overall I enjoyed it but there is an element of wasted opportunity about it. It all feels rather detached at times, a little contrived and not always convincing.