At the99 Homespress day I asked cast membersAndrew Garfield, Michael ShannonandLaura Dernto play “Save or Kill”. If you haven’t seen it yet, the game reveals which franchises, characters or bands someone would choose when pitted against another of equal value. Han Solo or Indiana Jones – if you were told you could only save one and the other would be erased from existence forever, who would you pick? While99 Homes is a serious film, I’ve never seen Michael Shannon laugh during an interview so I decided to play the game to make it happen. Thankfully it worked.
While most people look at the leaves changing color as a sign of cooler weather on the horizon, to me it always represents fantastic movies. While moviegoing is a year-round thing, Hollywood generally aims their award caliber films for release in the fall, with the hope of landing those coveted Oscars.
Which brings me toRamin Bahrani‘s heart-wrenching look at the foreclosure crisis,99 Homes.
Inspired by true events, the film starsMichael Shannonas a businessman who makes a comfortable living serving eviction notices and carrying out removals of people from their homes.Andrew Garfieldis a single father who experiences Shannon’s work first hand, but is then given the opportunity to try and get his house back by workingforShannon’s character.
Besides the amazing performances by both Shannon and Garfield, what’s exceptional about99 Homesis the way Bahrani lets the scenes play out by refusing to embellish them. At times you feel like you’re in the middle of a documentary because Bahrani likes to use real people, and that authenticity works flawlessly in the film. Trust me, you want to see this movie. It’s one of my favorites of 2015.99 Homesalso starsLaura Dern,Noah Lomax,Tim Guinee,J.D. Evermore, andClancy Brown.
Here are some previous editions of “Save or Kill”:
