$9.99 is a stop motion animation film that used puppets to create the world of an apartment building in Sidney. Based om the short stories of Etgar Keret. It was adapted for film by Keret and director Tatia Rosenthal. It is a series of interacting short stories about the people in the apartment building. The Peck family are the link between stories. I the beginning, Jim Peck, the father, has and interaction with a homeless man who threatens to kill himself if Jim does not give him a dollar for a cup of coffee. After an interaction between them, Jim gets him to put the gun down and asks the homeless man to repeat the request without threatening and see what happens. He did, Jim refused and said maybe he would give him the dollar tomorrow, and the homeless man blew his brains out in front of him. (not so funny for a film listed as a comedy). Jim has two sons, Dave & Lenny. Dave is unemployed and has little interest in getting a job, he likes to cook. The job he wanted was a telemarketing job and they told him he was not qualified. Jim wants Dave to get a job with Lenny as a Repo man. There is a woman and her boyfriend in another apartment having relationship issues, a little boy who likes to play soccer, and a lonely old man who all live in the building also. All of whom intersect with each other at different times. The woman is the little boy's teacher, she talks to the old man in the elevator and Lenny tries to pick her up in the coffee shop. The little boy kicks his soccer ball and Dave catches it, and talks to Lenny in the elevator. The little boy's dad gives him a piggy bank to save money for the action figure he wants, he pays him fifty cents each time he drinks his milk. The little old man gets a visitor, and angel that smokes and likes to eat donuts and cookies. The angel is the homeless man from the beginning.
The reason the film is called $9.99 is that Dave buys a book from an add that claims it will tell him the meaning of life for a mere $9.99. After he reads that and tried to tell his father about it (his father didn't listen), he ordered a book that will tell him how to get people to pay attention to him for $9.99. He later got a letter form the company saying that they were going out of business and no longer had the second book in stock, so they sent him a book on "How to swim like a dolphin". Ironically, this book helps him reconnect with his father.
This film had some funny moments but the ending was confusing. I'm not sure how I felt about it.
The technical aspects of the film were interesting. On the film's' website there is information about the film process and the making of the film http://www.9dollars99movie.com/. The cast of voices are all internationally known Australian actors. It took them forty weeks to make the film. according to one web site. The total income for the film was over $700,000. It was not widely distributed, premiering at the Toronto film festival in 2008. Rotten Tomatoes .com gave this film a "Fresh"rating.
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