I won’t be surprised if 99 Homes hits a few critic’s best of the year lists. It’s an engrossing character drama about the housing crisis of the early 2000’s starring Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon. Shannon in particular gives a powerful performance as the greedy real estate business man who is capitalizing on other people’s foreclosures and misfortune. Garfield is also surprisingly great here as a blue collar construction worker caught in the system.
The film does a great job of illustrating the corruption and frankly, just general mess that the real estate industry (and low interest lending to unqualified buyers) was causing to the economy and people’s daily lives. I’m glad I saw it and really liked it but I’m not sure I’d go as far as putting this on a best of list. Still, it’s terrific and worth seeing.