No.17 - 99 Homes (2010) 61 of 100
This film is essentially ‘The Big Short’ but at ground level. Shannon plays Rick Carver a real estate agent who buys up foreclosed houses and flips them for a profit. The system is gamed in his favour and he has local cops and judges in his pocket. The film centres on his relationship with Dennis Nash, played by Andrew Garfield, who is a hard working single dad who lives with his son and his Mom, the implausibly lovely Laura Dern. Nash hasn’t paid his mortgage for a couple of months and is soon booted out of his family home by Carver and his gang of hired muscle. The Nash family is forced to decant to a motel and things get worse when he realises Carver’s men have stolen his tools. Nash goes to confront Carver but fate steps in when a sewage leak threatens a property and Nash saves the day. Carver is impressed and takes Nash under his wing, showing him the various ways he works the system to get what he wants. Initially Nash is on board with a ‘can’t beat ‘em so joi...