Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

99 Homes Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf April 27, 2016

After building a name for himself with low-budget films such as “Goodbye Solo” and “Man Push Cart,” writer/director Ramin Bahrani graduated to more high-profile fare with 2013’s “At Any Price,” starring Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron. A tale of farmland woe and family sin, the feature was a melodramatic disaster, punishing audiences with ridiculously broad performances and absurd writing. Bahrani recovers a bit of his old mojo with “99 Homes,” which surveys the state of the nation in 2010 as it deals with a ruined housing market and destitute owners. It’s a movie about the acid burn of morality in the face of financial reward, and Bahrani has the right idea during the picture’s early moments, which pinpoint the shame, horror, and emotional violence of eviction in a deeply disturbing manner. The rest of “99 Homes” doesn’t reach the same level of authenticity, finding Bahrani returning to old habits as subtlety is replaced by opera, ruining the primal scream of the effort.

Unable to find jobs as a construction worker in Orlando, Florida, Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) is scrambling to cover his debts, losing faith as unemployment seems impossible to defeat. Unable to save his home from foreclosure, Nash is soon faced with the cold-blooded wrath of Rick Carver, a real estate agent who works with the banks, collecting property for his business needs. Taking son Connor (Noah Lomax) and mother Lynn (Laura Dern, who deserves better than this) to a local extended stay hotel to work out a plan to buy back the family dwelling, Nash finds himself confronted by Carver once again, but this time a job offer arises, with the agent tempting the desperate man with financial stability in exchange for doing dirty work. Helping Carver evict families and work the system, Nash finds himself making more money than ever before, but this transition is costing him a soul, with one eviction target, Frank (Tim Guinee), complicating the new hire’s work and triggering his guilt.

The opening scenes of “99 Homes” are the most effective, following Nash as he faces an unsympathetic system ready to take his home away from his family. He loses an appeal in court, steamrolled by an impatient judge, and his job is disappearing, unable to find steady construction work in Orlando, coming home to Connor and Lynn -- two loved ones he’s trying to protect, dismissing their interest in the deteriorating financial situation. The eviction sequence is heartbreaking to watch, studying the chilling procedural tone of the confrontation, with Carver and rent-a-cops deflecting pleas for mercy, repeatedly proclaiming their loyalty to the law. It’s pure agony and humiliation, generating an exact feeling of personal loss that’s rare to find in cinema. Bahrani creates intimacy with the characters, exposing their desperation as Nash and his family are pulled out of their home, pushed to the street with their belongings, collected by practiced repossession thieves. It’s an incredible way to introduce the relationships in “99 Homes,” but it’s also a chest-tightening event Bahrani is unable to replicate for the duration of the picture.

America certainly needs a movie like “99 Homes,” which provides a frightening reminder of daily life for the less fortunate, watching good, solid families mangle financial battles and suffer crippling losses, with suicide showcased here as popular option for the hopeless. Bahrani has a chance to pore over both sides of the argument, inspecting the plight of the hardworking homeowner who can’t catch a break, trying to keep children fed and the lights on, and there’s Carver’s way, with the numbed professional working the system in full, trying to communicate to clients the pitfalls of debt. However, “99 Homes” is not an academic study of the housing crisis, it’s a dramatic take on it, and Bahrani is ready to vilify Carver for his predatory ways, turning the character into an immaculately tailored, vaping ghoul who gets off on the power the job provides him, barking orders at his minions while juggling two women and multiple homes he’s preparing to flip. Shannon is terrific in the role, but he’s visibly trying to keep Carver on a short leash, fighting Bahrani on broader points of evildoing, maintaining a perspective of longstanding experience (he’s heard all the sob stories) as the screenplay gradually fits the real estate agent for a black hat. Carver is no saint, but the realism of his slick ways (scoring properties with a “cash for keys” program that gives underwater homeowners a fast way out of their problems) is much more interesting than the evil amplification the screenplay ultimately gives him.

The war between authenticity and cinema wreaks havoc with “99 Homes” in its second half, watching Nash rise up in the ranks, happily following Carver’s lead with land deals and nerve-shredding evictions, receiving extraordinary financial reward for his duties. Again, the moral fluidity presented here is fascinating, studying Nash’s mental process as he tries to justify his actions while pulling scared people out of their homes. Bahrani makes a point of weariness by showcasing the elderly, immigrants, and infants as they lose their shelter with nowhere to go, with Nash clinging to what remains of his conscience with Frank, trying to aid a lost man in a familiar situation of forced relocation. Sadly, the complexity of the job and Nash’s point of view is gradually flattened into a “deal with the Devil” plot, while on-the-nose dialogue waters down the potency of the story, simplifying a monumentally difficult situation of submission and awareness.

99 Homes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.40:1 aspect ratio) presentation preserves the look of the HD-shot feature, which favors brighter Floridian colors with a slight sunny glow to most scenes. Hues are direct, picking out the divide between Carver's cooler wardrobe and Nash's casual wear, while neighborhoods retain vivid greenery. Skintones are spot-on. Detail is sharp and deep, capturing the wear and tear of aging and subtle performance choices. Textures are touchable on costuming and housing exteriors. Delineation is crisp and communicative. Source is immaculate.

99 Homes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix finds pressure points early and often, providing suspense with effective aural emphasis as tempers rise. Dialogue exchanges are clear, never overwhelming the performances, also making sense of Garfield's mumbled southern accent. Scoring is bold, carrying moods with confidence, presenting precise instrumentation. Atmospherics, including distant neighborhood commotion, add to the listening experience. Surrounds aren't utilized often, but some elements, including air travel and crowd activity, push out effectively.

99 Homes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary is provided by writer/director Ramin Bahrani.

• Deleted Scene (1:26, HD) is strangely included at the end of the feature, prompting viewers to either watch or skip it. Briefly detailing the process of "strategic default," the clip is a vital piece of the Rick Carver puzzle, discussing homeowner irresponsibility. I'm sure it was snipped to make Carver into more of a monster.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

99 Homes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The final act of "99 Homes" twists Nash's experience with the business into unwelcome melodrama, with Bahrani cheating his way to a resolution by making Carver a legitimate villain instead of playing more ambiguous beats of law-bending. It's deflating, especially when the first hour of the feature finds nuance and internalized pain with ease. What begins as a harrowing study of the death of the American Dream soon becomes a bland network television drama, topped off with gunplay, defined moral choices, and a type of karmic balance. There's so much here to dissect and debate, but Bahrani isn't brave enough to follow through on early promises, suddenly trying to make a particularly itchy mood of emotional unrest digestible for all audiences.