November 30, 2015 7:30pm at Tilley Hall, UNB Campus
Ramin Bahrani, 112 mins, USA, 2014, English
Principal Cast: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern
Set during the US housing-market meltdown of the last decade, the latest feature from American director Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo) is an intimate and moving chronicle of a family that has become one of the many casualties of a culture of relentless consumption and economic overextension.
With employment opportunities drying up as a result of the US economy’s implosion, Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield, The Social Network, Never Let Me Go) has fallen disastrously behind in his mortgage payments. Evicted from his house by local realtor Rick Carver (Michael Shannon, Mud, Take Shelter) — a slick, hard-nosed operator who has found a lucrative calling in these lean times as an axe-man for the banks — Nash finds temporary housing in a motel while he desperately scrambles to keep even this roof over his family’s heads. Soon Nash finds Carver on his doorstep once again — this time with an offer of a job, and a promise to help Nash reclaim his family home. Unable to resist, Nash enters a world of shady transactions where the losses of the many are the gain of a few.
Under Bahrani’s assured direction, Garfield does his best work to date in his nuanced portrayal of a moral man in an immoral world, while Shannon vividly illustrates the visceral need underlying Carver’s manic drive to succeed, giving dimension and depth to this seemingly cold and calculating man. Enthralling, provocative and timely, 99 Homes is simply not to be missed.
99 Homes | Monday Night Film Series | Tilley Hall, Room 102, UNB Campus | Nov. 30, 2015 – 7:30pm | See full schedule
