99 Homes - B

Rated R, 112 minutes

Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon

If you've ever owned a home, you know what a sacrifice it can be to maintain such an important investment. That's the main focus of the familiar yet intelligent new thriller "99 Homes," an economically relevant of doing what it takes to survive. Single father Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) is evicted from his home, yet his only chance to win it back is to go to work for Rick Carver (Michael Shannon), the charismatic and ruthless businessman who evicted him in the first place. It’s a deal-with-the-devil that provides security for his family; but as Nash falls deeper into Carver’s web, he finds his situation grows more brutal and dangerous than he ever imagined. Directed by Ramin Bahrani ("Man Push Cart" and "At Any Price") and co-written by Bahrani and Amir Naderi, "99 Homes" is a superbly-acted, pertinent drama of survival and making money off good people's misfortunes. Shannon's memorable turn as the greedy businessman named Carver who's seemingly figured out how to build an empire off of people's mistakes is the chief highlight to see the film, while "Spider-Man's" Garfield is also good as the hardworking guy drawn into Carver's tangled web, though he realizes he may not have the conscience to force people out of their homes as skillfully as his mentor does. "99 Homes" is essentially the real estate version of Oliver Stone's classic "Wall Street," with Carver as the real estate Gordon Gekko and Garfield as Charlie Sheen's Bud, with the younger striving for more of an annoying good conscience that can get in the way of a good business deal ("Never get emotional about the house," Carver tells Nash over and over). Unlike the buying and selling of millions of dollars of stocks, many people can likely relate to the everyday investment that is a house, and some of the movie's more affecting - and tense - moments comes when Nash must destroy someone's livelihood and literally put them out on the street. Except for a vaguely touching ending that is frustratingly out of place, Bahrani's "99 Homes" is a satisfying look at personal and economic meltdowns we all go through, aided by a vicious performance from the underrated Shannon.