99 HomesThe first rule of warfare is to know your enemy. And make no mistake: Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) and Rick Carver (Michael Shannon) are on opposite sides of the battle lines, regardless of how those lines are blurred. Rick Carver is a realtor, profiting by the rapid fire foreclosures of dozens of homes in Orlando, Florida. Single father and unemployed home and construction technician Dennis Nash has been sinking fast, despite his best efforts to tread water as his own home is set to be repossessed by the bank. Their paths first cross under harrowing circumstances; but you know that saying about business and strange bedfellows...
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99 Homes is a drama forged in the wake of the most recent housing crisis and recession, forcing Americans all over this nation to struggle not only to maintain their lifestyle, but really just to stay in their homes. For anyone who has struggled to make a house payment or who has ever had to brave the litigious nightmare that is the legal wrangling of equity and property, 99 Homes becomes shockingly pointed and identifiable, making what is a convincingly recognizable scenario one filled with dread and trauma. Certainly many men would identify with Dennis, who fights to keep his family safe, including his mother, Lynn (Laura Dern), and his son, Connor (Noah Lomax), but feels the bitterness and humiliation of being literally pulled from their house by an overly swift legal system more concerned with appeasing the interests of big business than acknowledging the needs of the defendants. The avatar and administrator of this court system is the parasitic and unscrupulous Rick Carver, who personally evicts Dennis Nash and his family. This scene where Dennis is evicted is intensely painful. It is not just because of the stuff in the house, but as Dennis pleads to the court, Carver, and the representatives of the sheriff's department--on friendly terms with Carver, due to the frequency of their working together--this is where he was born and raised, where his son was born and raised. It is more than what Carver describes and views a home as; it is more than just a box--it is a symbol of the American dream, of hope, security, and family. These feelings are universal, and they fill this scene as Dennis is completely powerless to stop this tragedy administered in the name of the law. The pulse of the score feels like a heart driven by adrenaline and fear, as Carver smokes his alien-looking e-cigarette, cool as a cucumber. And as Dennis scrambles to find work--only to discover some of his tools missing, which leads him to accuse one of Carver's hired hands--he suddenly finds himself struck with a job offer by none other than the very same man who turned him away from his homestead. When Dennis shows his overwhelming determination to scrape together money for his family, Carver recognizes his drive, and slowly but surely, Dennis finds himself kept warm under the belly of the dragon.
Whether Rick Carver--whose very name evokes an image of a ravager--intends to make Dennis Nash into an apprentice lackey of his business or simply exploit his fervor to make his work even easier could be argued either way. Dennis spends his early tenure executing small but devious schemes on behalf of the realtor--from uninstalling air conditioners and pool pumps, and forging lease agreements for "Keys-for-Cash" settlements to defraud the government, to personally serving eviction papers. But it is a slippery slope, one which Dennis has no passion for at first--perhaps never, in fact. But Rick seduces Dennis with a way to make money to not only support his family, but in Dennis' interests, get his home back. Rick speaks of seemingly cold, hard facts about the nature of those who default on their loans as a justification for his adverse action. He is the devil on Dennis' shoulder, offering a rationale for turning people out of their homes and stealing appliances from foreclosed houses; he is the Henry Potter to Dennis' George Bailey. It's not just the money, but the lifestyle which Rick indulges in with his family which turns the screws in Dennis. When Rick hires Dennis to fix his own air conditioning, he sees him in his lush villa, maps of the surrounding neighborhood splayed out with red marks and pushpins, like a general planning his line of attack--families to destroy. Rick knows he is offering a pittance to Dennis, but Dennis has become a part of the machine, a world more interested in destruction than creation. As Dennis serves the eviction notices, he confronts family after family, ultimately in the purpose of serving the interests of some unseen entity, the ephemeral and inhuman "bank". One could certainly relate to Rick's point of view that the people who have borrowed such vast sums from the bank for homes could never repay them; but his unethical practices speak more to reality than his slippery words. Each home, each family that Dennis encounters is a fresh stab of pain for the erstwhile homeowner himself; for my money, the scene with the elderly man with nowhere to turn, offered to be taken to the Red Cross shelter by the sheriff is the most heart-rending. Dennis finds his greatest challenge when he is forced to take action against the father of his child's friend, his morality put to the test, forcing Dennis to choose between his livelihood borne on the backs of the many or his soul. Although 99 Homes is at its core about human nature and our intrinsic need for a home, it is also about the state of our union, of a government and economy comfortable with allowing bureaucracy and business to overshadow the welfare of its citizens. It is a government which enables men like Rick Carver to profit at the expense of so many, not from need but greed--the darkest kind of capitalism.
Recommended for: Fans of a suspenseful and very recognizable drama about our strained economy, our values of home and shelter, and the moral responsibility to appreciate one another's livelihoods, even when tempted by the lure of acquisition and gain.
Whether Rick Carver--whose very name evokes an image of a ravager--intends to make Dennis Nash into an apprentice lackey of his business or simply exploit his fervor to make his work even easier could be argued either way. Dennis spends his early tenure executing small but devious schemes on behalf of the realtor--from uninstalling air conditioners and pool pumps, and forging lease agreements for "Keys-for-Cash" settlements to defraud the government, to personally serving eviction papers. But it is a slippery slope, one which Dennis has no passion for at first--perhaps never, in fact. But Rick seduces Dennis with a way to make money to not only support his family, but in Dennis' interests, get his home back. Rick speaks of seemingly cold, hard facts about the nature of those who default on their loans as a justification for his adverse action. He is the devil on Dennis' shoulder, offering a rationale for turning people out of their homes and stealing appliances from foreclosed houses; he is the Henry Potter to Dennis' George Bailey. It's not just the money, but the lifestyle which Rick indulges in with his family which turns the screws in Dennis. When Rick hires Dennis to fix his own air conditioning, he sees him in his lush villa, maps of the surrounding neighborhood splayed out with red marks and pushpins, like a general planning his line of attack--families to destroy. Rick knows he is offering a pittance to Dennis, but Dennis has become a part of the machine, a world more interested in destruction than creation. As Dennis serves the eviction notices, he confronts family after family, ultimately in the purpose of serving the interests of some unseen entity, the ephemeral and inhuman "bank". One could certainly relate to Rick's point of view that the people who have borrowed such vast sums from the bank for homes could never repay them; but his unethical practices speak more to reality than his slippery words. Each home, each family that Dennis encounters is a fresh stab of pain for the erstwhile homeowner himself; for my money, the scene with the elderly man with nowhere to turn, offered to be taken to the Red Cross shelter by the sheriff is the most heart-rending. Dennis finds his greatest challenge when he is forced to take action against the father of his child's friend, his morality put to the test, forcing Dennis to choose between his livelihood borne on the backs of the many or his soul. Although 99 Homes is at its core about human nature and our intrinsic need for a home, it is also about the state of our union, of a government and economy comfortable with allowing bureaucracy and business to overshadow the welfare of its citizens. It is a government which enables men like Rick Carver to profit at the expense of so many, not from need but greed--the darkest kind of capitalism.
Recommended for: Fans of a suspenseful and very recognizable drama about our strained economy, our values of home and shelter, and the moral responsibility to appreciate one another's livelihoods, even when tempted by the lure of acquisition and gain.