Ramin Bahrani is not a name that many people know of, but he is one of the finest filmmakers working today. Anyone who saw Life Itself, the documentary about late film critic Roger Ebert, may remember that Bahrani befriended Ebert after the reviewer praised some of his early work, and it is likely due to Ebert’s influence that Bahrani has such a renowned reputation. His latest film, 99 Homes, is slated to premiere at the Venice and Toronto film festivals next month, and today we have our first look at it.
The drama stars Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon, two stellar actors who often work on the stage but are now best-known for their roles in superhero films (Garfield in Marc Webb’s Spider-Man movies, Shannon in Man of Steel). Based on the serious scowls on both of their faces in the first image above, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, this should be an intense ride and, hopefully, a return to form for both actors.
In 99 Homes, Garfield plays a blue-collar construction worker who has to deal with his family’s eviction during the recent economic crisis when the bank forecloses on their home. To get back into the green, he finds works for a crooked real-estate broker, played by Shannon. The twist is that Shannon is the same man who caused Garfield’s woe in the first place and is foreclosing on other disenfranchised Americans. Laura Dern, who is having a late-career resurgence as of late, and Safe Haven‘s Noah Lomax also star.
With such an unnerving premise and a strong director, 99 Homes is certainly one to watch as it plays the festival circuit this fall. Although the film does not have a current distributor, expect that to change if buzz is good, which it likely will be.
