$9.99 (2008)

Director:

Tatia Rosenthal

Writers:

Etgar Keret (screenplay)
Etgar Keret (short stories)

Release Date:

29 April 2009 (France)

Genre:

Animation

Plot:

A stop-motion animated story about people living in a Syndey apartment complex looking for meaning in their lives. |

Plot Keywords:

Money In Title | Number In Title

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Josef Ber
Tom Budge	...	Bisley
Joel Edgerton	...	Ron
Leon Ford	...	Stanton
Samuel Johnson	...	Dave Peck
Claudia Karvan	...	Michelle
Jamie Katsamatsas	...	Zack
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Jim Peck
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Lenny Peck
Henry Nixon	...	Drazen / beanbag / radio announcer (voice)
Barry Otto	...	Albert
Geoffrey Rush	...	Angel
Leeanna Walsman	...	Tanita

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

USA:78 min | Canada:78 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Israel | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:M18 | Portugal:M/12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva)

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Worse than mediocre

My girlfriend and I decided to see $9.99 after reading a large write up in the NY Times. We both like claymation, and were intrigued by the mature approach this movie was taking. It's not a kids film, but the problem is that it's simply not a good film.

The plot, if you can even call it that, is practically non-existent. The story meanders from one character to another, with very little rhyme or reason. I guess you could call it a character-based film, but the characters were less than intriguing. They either come off as not very believable or just simply boring. The filmmaker can't seem to make her mind up whether this should be a slice of life or a surreal journey, and it ends up failing at both. On the realism side- you get the boring old guy no one wants to talk to, the young adult who can't hold down a job, a little kid who decides that his piggy bank is his favorite toy, and a few more. On the surreal side- you have an abrasive homeless jerk who becomes an angel, an engaged man who decides he'd rather hang with miniature party buddies instead of getting married, and a man who shaves off all his hair for a beautiful woman and then turns into a chair at the end. Don't worry about explanations, character development, or intriguing dialogue because there isn't any.

When a plot is this weak, characters are this boring, and the conclusion is so unsatisfying, I struggle to find any redeeming qualities here. The sophomoric claymation certainly doesn't do it any favors either. $9.99 wants to be a surreal philosophical journey, but it's mostly just an underwhelming, unsatisfying series of vignettes that are poorly tied together. It's almost like someone took the film Waking Life, removed all the interesting dialogue and philosophy, and tacked on a sorry excuse for a plot. There's simply not much here worth watching, and you certainly won't find the meaning of life with $9.99.