"99 Homes" Shines A Spotlight On America's Foreclosure Crisis

DETROIT (WWJ) – The words to a popular O'Jays song can be used to describe the message in the movie "99 Homes":

"For the love of money, people will lie, lie, they will cheat …
For the love of money, people don't care who they hurt or beat."*

Yes, the words to that song pretty much describe the plot in "99 Homes," which is based on America's foreclosure crisis. The movie underscores what happened to homeowner after homeowner, as well as scores of tenants, when millions of people were losing their homes to foreclosure. It also shows how some people made huge profits while so many others lost just about everything they had worked for their entire lives.

In "99 Homes," the just-released movie from Broad Green Pictures, ruthless businessman Rick Carver is making a fortune by repossessing homes. Young, single father Dennis Nash is lured into Carver's scheme, seduced by money, a glamorous lifestyle with beautiful women, and more money than he ever dreamed he would have. After Nash is evicted from his home – along with his mother and his young son – he accepts a job working for Carver, the man who evicted them, because he desperately needs money – and he needs it fast.

Watching "99 Homes" is oftentimes heart wrenching. To see people kicked out of their homes with, literally, just minutes to pack what they absolutely need to take with them, isn't a pretty picture. And it shows how greed can corrupt people and get them to do things they probably wouldn't do otherwise.

That's what happens to Nash, who gets a taste of a life he'd never experienced before – and knows deep down inside is corrupt – but won't let go.

"Money can drive some people out of their minds."*

"99 Homes" is insightful and eye-opening. It'll probably even have you pulling for Nash, who I did find myself rooting for the entire film. With his relationship with his family at stake and falling deeper under Carver's strong-fisted grip, I really wanted to see Nash bring Carver down. And just when it appears Nash has regained his moral compass, the movie ends. The ending leaves a lot to be desired because it ends cold, with no real resolution. Did Nash go to prison? Did Carver? Did Nash repair his relationship with his family? What happened to the people who were scammed out of their homes? Those are all questions that were left unanswered.

But despite the ending, "99 Homes" is an intriguing film with a message worth seeing.

Stars Academy Award® nominee Michael Shannon as Rick Carver, Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) as Dennis Nash, Academy Award® nominee Laura Dern as Nash's mom, and newcomer Noah Lomax as Nash's son.

See you at the movies!

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Member:
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Detroit Film Critics Society (DFCS)
African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA)
Digital Arts, Film & Television (DAFT)
National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)

*Lyrics from the song "For the Love of Money," recorded by The O'Jays. Written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Anthony Jackson.