99 Homes R
In worst cases, foreclosure means eviction from your home by implacable sheriff’s deputies with your possessions hauled to the curbside. 99 Homes depicts this as the ultimate middle-class nightmare when a corrupt, rapacious broker, Rick Carver (Michael Shannon), makes a fortune from misfortune. Sensing pluck and fight in one of his victims, Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield), Carver hires the unemployed, suddenly homeless young man as his agent. It’s a devil’s job. Writer-director Ramin Bahrani provides Carver with a backstory and rationalization: He’s capitalizing on the mess made by regulators who didn’t regulate, careless lenders and people using mortgages to finance extravagance. He’s right and yet he’s so wrong! The suspense involves Nash’s response. Will conscience win in the end? (David Luhrssen)
Pan PG
This Peter Pan origin story finds Peter (Levi Miller) discovering magical Neverland, where he is instantly awestruck by Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) and the pirate’s flying sailing ship. In due course, Peter learns to despise the buccaneer and is taken under the wing of teen rebel Hook (Garrett Hedlund). The trailer reveals meaty roles for both Jackman’s Blackbeard and Hedlund’s Hook, but topnotch special effects aren’t sufficient to carry a screenplay lacking excitement. Preoccupied with Neverland’s mystical sights, Pan adds little of value to the Peter Pan mythology—and one may even argue this bloated film detracts. (Lisa Miller)
The Walk PG
In 1974, Frenchman Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) hatched a daring plan to walk a high wire strung between NYC’s Twin Towers. The film spends much time detailing Petit’s life and ambitions, coming into its own once he recruits a team of helpers. Denied authorization to perform his feat, Petit’s outlaw walk requires meticulous planning and timing from team members wearing disguises to gain access to the tower rooftops. Reminiscent of a heist flick, the film does a first-rate job recreating Petit’s harrowing walk, allowing us to decide whether his walk is art or merely calculated insanity. (L.M.)
