How Do You Get 99 Homes for Dirt Cheap?

Broad Green Pictures

“99 Homes,” directed by Ramin Bahrani, encapsulates what actually happens when a person loses her home for the first time. When it is not her fault. And how one tries to survive from the aftermath. Single father Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) tries to figure out what’s next for his family after are suddenly wrenched into homelessness.

When the local sheriff and the foreclosure man knock on your door, there isn’t much time to prepare for everything you own to be thrown out on the street. Hard decisions must be made in a very short time. If you’re lucky, the officer might give you a few moments to grab a few necessary personal belongings (picture, ID,’s, clothes, medicine). If you’ve never experienced an eviction or never had to live out on the streets, this event can be overwhelming. Shocked at the turn of events, Nash tries to figure out what happens next.

The only job available is working with the same people who foreclosed on him a few weeks. Wealth is often made off the backs of other unfortunate people, and so it goes with “99 Homes.” Real estate mogul Rick Carver (Michael Shannon) built his empire by being dishonest to the homeowners, government and realty companies.

Carver’s modus operandi is stealing and reselling interior items for market price, forging documents to purchase homes for dirt cheap and making a deal with the foreclosure owner called “cash for keys.” He offers homeowners $3,500 for forgoing their mortgages. The millionaire then resells the homes for far more than he paid.

Nash now finds himself trapped in this web of lies, struggling to reconcile fighting to regain his old home while enjoying making a serious piece of change for foreclosing homeowners. His internal angst intensifies when an acquaintance he has a lot in common with receives a foreclosure notice. As Carver’s second in command, Nash is the man with the foreclosure plan. So, will he throw this analog of himself’s family into the street, as Carver did to his?  Will he carry out the job for a corrupt, ruthless boss who has made Nash wealthy beyond anything he imagined?

In moral terms, will he become the very thing he despises or just walk away from it all? This move touches on many aspects of the human dilemma:  when someone is put in a very uncomfortable place where doing an act you abhor becomes the motivation for survival. But you know that act is not necessarily the final response.

True, Dennis Nash is a fictional character. But, he isn’t much different from real people who face similar challenges on a daily basis and must decide whether to sell out or stand by their definition of truth. “99 Homes” leaves the audience questioning personal challenges and how they might respond. This is definitely a must see movie.

The Street Sense filmakers co-op directors were recently invited to an advance screening of Ramin Bahrani’s new film 99 Homes, which opened in District theaters on October 2, 2015. In conjunction with the film, the 99 Good Deeds campaign was created and promoted by the cast to raise funds for service providers that help people facing homelessness in 20 U.S. cities.

Read also Sasha Williams reflection: “Hits Home.


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