Morality or survival?: The question that encompasses the cinematic rawness of 99 Homes.
I have to be honest, my main motivation for viewing this film was Andrew Garfield. When browsing cinema listings, my initial interest peeked at the mention of Emma Stone (the ginger goddess) in Irrational Man, but the realisation that the film was yet to be released in the UK (despite its July release in the US), meant that I had to opt for my second option of Emma Stone’s boyfriend Andrew Garfield in 99 Homes. It all seems very shallow and, now having viewed the film, I am embarrassed that this was my motivator because this film is not inspired by Andrew Garfield’s good looks (which are forgotten within the first five minutes). This film is, instead, a gut wrenching depiction of an inescapable reality.
Economic crash and resulting desperation is the premise on which Ramin Bahrani’s film originates. Andrew Garfield stuns in his depiction of struggling single-father Dennis Nash, as debt and the inability to repay it weighs heavily on his mind as he attempts to care for his son and mother. Despite Nash’s gruelling efforts to obtain and maintain work within the construction industry, the weight of his money troubles materialises in the form of Rick Carver (Michael Shannon) who evicts Nash and his family from their family home. Rick Carver is a real-estate agent (involved in illegal activity) with eyes of ice, never without his ominous blue glowing e-cigarette. I’m not sure that I would describe him as a real-estate agent, but rather a smarmy, greedy, callous and coldblooded villain who views homes as “empty boxes”, but you can make your own judgement. In a sick turn of events, Nash ends up working for this suited Satan. Preying upon his desperation, Carver teaches Nash all the (illegal) tricks of the trade, so to speak, creating his own mini-me.
The lure of an ever increasing income hypnotises Nash, as I am sure it would us, being able to buy Dorset Cereals granola instead of Tesco Value, or in Nash’s case, a house with a pool. But there persists that niggle at the back of the mind, the conscience, the moral reservations, the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. Garfield is exceptional in his portrayal of a man contorted by this inner conflict, as his dynamic performance reflects the switching between fulfilment and turmoil which his puppet-master Carver attempts to control. Shannon complements the taut drama, presenting a money motivated criminal through the rehearsed eviction speech and his disinterested glance at families who are quite literally having their security ripped from beneath their feet.
99 Homes is a thriller. Not in the usual sense of a psychopathic killer being on the loose, but through the terror that is everyday reality.
Watch the 99 Homes trailer here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbuiJi52w9c
Edited by Georgina Varley
Sources:
http://collider.com/99-homes-trailer-andrew-garfield-and-michael-shannon-get-intense/
http://homemcr.org/film/99-homes/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbuiJi52w9c
Image Sources:
http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/99-homes-poster.png
http://homemcr.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/99-Homes-1-628×460-1440498817.jpg