99 Homes

99 Homes

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ramin Bahrani
Produced by
Written by
Story by
  • Ramin Bahrani
  • Bahareh Azimi
Starring
Music by
  • Antony Partos
  • Matteo Zingales
Cinematography Bobby Bukowski
Edited by Ramin Bahrani
Production
company
Distributed by Broad Green Pictures
Release dates
  • August 29, 2014 (2014-08-29) (VIFF)
  • October 9, 2015 (2015-10-09) (United States)
Running time
 112 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $8 million[2]
Box office $1.7 million[2]

99 Homes is a 2015 American drama film directed by Ramin Bahrani, and written by Bahrani and Amir Naderi. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon and Laura Dern. Set in Florida, the film follows single father Dennis Nash (Garfield) and his family as they are evicted from their home by businessman Rick Carver (Shannon), forcing Nash to help Carver in evicting people out of their homes in exchange for their own home. Bahrani dedicated the film to the late film critic Roger Ebert.[3] It competed for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.[4][5] It won Grand Prix at 2015 Deauville American Film Festival.[6] It also screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival,[7] The film was released in a limited release on September 25, 2015, by Broad Green Pictures.

Plot

Recently unemployed single father Dennis Nash, a construction worker in Orlando, Florida, is evicted together with his mother Lynn, a hairdresser, and young son Connor from the foreclosed home they share. Real estate operator Rick Carver is in charge of the eviction, and police officers who provide the enforcement call him "boss." Dennis and his family move into a shabby cramped motel room. Dennis goes to Rick's office and tries to take back his tools stolen by Rick's men. Rick sees the confrontation and is impressed by Dennis' gumption. He offers Dennis work as a repairman at his properties and Dennis accepts. Dennis soon becomes Rick's assistant, helping to carry out evictions himself and set up real estate schemes that exploit government and banking rules to the disadvantage of struggling home owners. He starts accepting large payments of money (in exchange for the work he is performing for Rick) and dips into the glamorous lifestyle in which Rick indulges.

Almost as soon as he begins working for Rick, Dennis tells Rick to keep the checks Rick offers as payment, so that he can buy back the house from which he was evicted, but Rick tells him to keep his money for now since it is not enough anyway.

An evicted home owner living in the same motel as Dennis and his family recognizes and threatens him. Dennis reacts by making a deal with Rick to buy back his family's old house, but the legal process prevents them from moving in immediately, so he decides to get his son out of the motel room immediately by selling the family home and buying a much more luxurious home instead.

When Dennis brings his mother and son to the luxurious house and informs them he bought it and sold their old house so they could get out of the motel room immediately, his mother doesn't believe at first that he has bought the house. Then Dennis' mother is shocked by the loss of their long-time home and is repulsed as she realizes Dennis got his new-found wealth by helping him victimize honest homeowners who have financial problems. Even Dennis' son is not happy with the arrangement. Lynn and Connor leave Dennis to stay with her brother.

Rick puts together a multi-million dollar real estate deal, but it is jeopardized by a legal case brought by a home owner he is trying to evict. Dennis and the home owner were friendly acquaintances, but the man turned hostile toward Dennis when he saw him become part of Rick's eviction business. Dennis obeys Rick's order to deliver a forged document to court that defeats the home owner's legal case. The subsequent eviction turns into an armed stand-off. Fearing that the man, whose family is also in the house, will likely be killed in a shoot-out, Dennis confesses to having delivered the forged document. The home owner surrenders, and Dennis is also arrested. As he waits to be driven away, the home owner's son smiles at him in gratitude.

Cast

Production

Casting

On July 24, 2013, Andrew Garfield signed on to play Dennis Nash, an unemployed contractor who loses his home to foreclosure.[8] Later on September 13, Michael Shannon joined the cast of the film to play Rick Carver, who teaches Dennis the legal and illegal ins-and-outs of the foreclosure game.[9] On December 10, Laura Dern also joined the cast of the film to play Lynn Nash, Dennis’ widowed mother,[10] and on January 6, 2014, Noah Lomax joined the cast of the film to play Connor Nash, Dennis' son.[11]

Filming

Principal photography, which began on November 18, 2013 in New Orleans, took a holiday break from Christmas to New Year on December 20.[12] Later, the film resumed shooting on January 6, 2014.[13] Whenever a close-up of Andrew Garfield's face is needed, Ramin Bahrani used a 24mm wide angle lens to emulate the thoughts of Garfield's character.[14]

Music

The film's score was written by Antony Partos and Matteo Zingales.[15]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2014.[16] and went onto screen at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2014.[17] As well as the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2014.[18] Shortly after, Broad Green Pictures acquired U.S distribution rights to the film.[18] It went onto screen at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2015.[19] The film was released in a limited release on September 25, 2015.[20] The film was released in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2015.[21]

Reception

Critical response

99 Homes received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 92%, based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fueled by powerful acting and a taut, patiently constructed narrative, 99 Homes is a modern economic parable whose righteous fury is matched by its intelligence and compassion."[22] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[23]

Accolades

Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor Michael Shannon Nominated [24]
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Michael Shannon Nominated [25]
Critics' Choice Awards Best Supporting Actor Michael Shannon Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Male Michael Shannon Pending [26]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor Michael Shannon Won [27]
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor Michael Shannon Won [28]
Phoenix Film Critics Society Best Supporting Actor Michael Shannon Nominated [29]
Venice International Film Festival (2014) SIGNIS Award Honorable Mention Ramin Bahrani
Venice International Film Festival (2014) Young Jury Members Best Film Won

References

  1. ↑ "99 HOMES (15)". British Board of Film Classification. August 17, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "99 Homes (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  3. ↑ Wickman, Forrest (24 January 2015). "Ramin Bahrani on Why He Dedicated His New Movie to Roger Ebert". Slate. The Slate Group. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "International competition of feature films". Venice. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Venice Film Festival Lineup Announced". Deadline. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa (September 12, 2015). "Michael Shannon Starrer ’99 Homes’ Wins Deauville Grand Prize". Variety. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Toronto Film Festival Lineup". Variety. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  8. 1 2 Kit, Borys (24 July 2013). "Andrew Garfield to Star in Indie Drama '99 Homes'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  9. 1 2 Gallagher, Brian (13 September 2013). "Michael Shannon Joins Andrew Garfield in 99 Homes". movieweb.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  10. 1 2 Yamato, Jen (10 December 2013). "Laura Dern Joins Andrew Garfield & Michael Shannon in ‘99 Homes’". deadline.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  11. 1 2 Sneider, Jeff (6 January 2014). "‘Safe Haven’ Actor Noah Lomax to Play Andrew Garfield’s Son in ’99 Homes’". thewrap.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Filming in New Orleans: Laura Dern joins NOLA cast of indie drama '99 Homes'". nola.com. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "’99 Homes’, starring Andrew Garfield, resumes filming in New Orleans on Jan. 6". onlocationvacations.com. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  14. ↑ Schmidlin, Charlie (22 September 2015). "Interview: Ramin Bahrani Talks '99 Homes,' The Differing Styles Of Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon & More". The Playlist. Indiewire.com. p. 2. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Antony Partos to Score Ramin Bahrani’s ’99 Homes’". filmmusicreporter.com. July 23, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ McCarthy, Todd (August 28, 2014). "'99 Homes': Venice Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  17. ↑ Hammond, Pete (September 1, 2014). "Telluride: Eviction Stunner '99 Homes' Electrifies Fest, Igniting Hot Distribution, Oscar Buzz". Deadline.com. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  18. 1 2 Fleming Jr, Mike (September 16, 2014). "Toronto: Andrew Garfield-Michael Shannon Starrer ’99 Homes’ Sells To Broad Green Pictures In $3 Million Deal". Deadline. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  19. ↑ Patten, Dominic (January 28, 2015). "Ramin Bahrani & Michael Shannon Of ’99 Homes’ On The Power Of Sundance – Video". Deadline. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  20. ↑ McNary, Dave (April 8, 2015). "‘99 Homes,’ ‘A Walk in the Woods’ Set for September Releases". Variety. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  21. ↑ Lloyd, Kenji (June 3, 2015). "99 Homes UK Release Date Set for September, Andrew Garfield & Michael Shannon Star". Final Reel. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  22. ↑ "99 Homes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  23. ↑ "99 Homes reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  24. ↑ Golden Globes 2016: Carol, The Big Short, lead nominations — see the full list
  25. ↑ http://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/22nd-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards
  26. ↑ http://variety.com/2015/film/news/spirit-awards-nominees-2016-carol-1201647728/
  27. ↑ http://www.lafca.net/years/2015.html
  28. ↑ http://sffcc.org/2015/12/2015-san-francisco-film-critics-circle-awards/
  29. ↑ http://www.awardsdaily.com/2015/12/12/phoenix-film-critics-nominations/

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External links

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