9/Tenths (2006)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

** before reading - I didn't know which words were 'prohibited' - so I changed everything that might have been thus some sentences sound a little funny - please use your imagination ****** Because thats probably the only thing in this film that cost them money. No but seriously, - long story short, a post-apocalypse film and how all of a sudden the only thing that matters are survival skills and some stuff about role reversal - poor man becomes the rich man due to his survival skills etc. etc. The wealthy couple rightfully owns a farm which the ranch hand steals by force and then the ranch hand steals the man's wife. Honestly, I feel for the wealthy man and really hoped he would just kill the ranch hand which he had every right and opportunity to do. There are so many moments where I was just screaming at the screen telling him to swing an ax or knife at the unsuspecting ranch hand. The whole plot is stupid and does not many any realistic or logical sense. If I were in his situation I'd just kill one of the sheep and eat it. pardon my language - this movie really annoyed me off.But what annoyed me off even more was the OBVIOUS heart that is bleeding blueism **** that is the underlying message of this film. Honestly, in a post-apocalypse world - yes, survival skills, being good at hard manual labor is more valuable than any professional degree - but WE Don't LIVE IN SUCH A WORLD!! Thats why poor people are poor. If I had a ton of copper and tried to sell it to you at the same price as gold with the excuse 'in some hypothetical world copper is the rarest metal and is necessary for the production of the most advanced technologies' would you buy it? NO WAY.So please - get real - and sorry, pardon the blunt nature of my review, but honestly, these movies peeve me.

I knew nothing of this film before I saw it. That said, I did not connect well to it. The concept is sound and makes you think about what would happen in a nation-wide terrorist attack, but the characters and story didn't fit well with this concept. It seems the characters and the battle over the house were threw into the mix to make it more interesting. All the characters have flaws. At one point I got so angry at all the characters, I had to turn it off and take a break - very unusual for me. There are a limited number of characters in the movie, making it look extremely low budget. Normally I don't mind as long as the movie is good... Point I'm getting at is the ending: I literally forced myself to painfully watch the last quarter of the movie just to see how the movie would end - who would die, who would get the house, who would she end up with, etc.. Needless to say, the ending was putrid. Looks to me like they ran out of budget $ at the last min. and ended it abruptly. No closure in any of the main conflicts - but they do it in a way that washes their hands of accountability and leaves it up to the audience. (ie: leaves it open to the audience to think about 'what's next for them...?') Not a good way to end this movie in my opinion. Several hours after seeing the movie I thought to myself 'You still have to finish watching that movie', but then I remembered that I did finish it, but it didn't feel like I did because it was such a poor ending. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't.

I gave this movie a 5 because the film had decent actors who played believable roles in moments in the film, beat by beat, when situations seemed inhumanly disloyal and emotionally chaotic, they pulled off good scenes consistently. The plot and story itself is loosely constructed around the 3 strong characters who develop throughout the film. Also some of film is simply inconsistently edited and a few scenes appear chopped up out of sequence noticeably. Fortunately, this only happens a few times in the movie, about halfway in and towards the end of the film.Overall, it's worth a watch if you like TV like dramas such as Flight 93/United 93 and similar.

On Saturday, February 25th, 2006, in the beautiful city of Sedona, I had the privilege to view the film 9/TENTHS-a gripping story about the will to survive at whatever costs. They say any type of warfare is hell, including terrorist activity. You have everything, and before you know it, it gets taken away. How will you manage? As the tag line reads, "How far will you go to survive?" This is the premise of the film-the choices one makes, to survive.Terrorist attacks on big cities cause the white collar, William (Henry Ian Cusick) and his wife, Jessica (Gabrielle Anwar) to relocate to their newly purchased ranch in the middle of nowhere. When they arrive, they find ranch hand, Elias (David L. Ortiz), already living there. As they battle over the property, massive attacks by terrorists destroy the outside world they once knew. What happens to necessities? What happens to class? What happens to law? What happens in the end...you decide.All three actors, Anwar, Cusick and the extremely handsome, Ortiz, were exceptional in their roles. Writer Michele McGuire's well-written characters are dynamic and their arcs, very intriguing. The rest is left to be fleshed out by the director and actors. The characters are very much human. At times you love a certain character, other times you were disappointed and felt a little bit or pity or hatred towards him/her. The lovely and talented Anwar helps carry the film with her sincere and revealing portrayal of Jessica. Watching it, I kept thinking, "What would I do?"The music of this film, composed by Brian Ralston, is a character as well. It is a driving force. Whether it is dramatic underscore, terrific flamenco arrangements or a beautiful recurring soprano voice, the music keeps the film's action moving and intense.Unlike many films being made today, this film by director, Bob Degus, actually has a few things to say. What will you hear? It would be a mistake to miss this brutally honest and intriguing piece of work.-B.K. Vargas