$9.99 is a 2008 Australian/Israeli stop-motion-animation feature-length film, based on the short stories of
Etgar KeretEtgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels and scriptwriting for film and television.-Biography:...
and directed by
Tatia RosenthalTatia Rosenthal is an animator and film director born in Tel Aviv, Israel.She served two years in the Israeli Defense Force, tried her hand at medical school and studied photography in Paris, before moving to New York City to attend the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.She...
. The screenplay was written by Keret and Rosenthal and is the third collaboration between the two. The voice cast features
Geoffrey RushGeoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor. He moved to Melbourne in the early 1990s via Brisbane and Sydney and currently lives in the suburb of Camberwell, Victoria...
,
Samuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson is an Australian actor, radio presenter and voiceover artist.He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne and is best known for his role as Evan Wylde in the television series The Secret Life of Us.-Starting out:At the age of 14, Johnson performed in his first school play, cast in a...
,
Anthony LaPagliaAnthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his Golden Globe Award-winning role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, and for his Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Simon Moon on the TV show Frasier.-Early life:LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South...
and
Claudia KarvanClaudia Karvan is an Australian actress popular for her roles in the television series The Secret Life of Us and, more recently, Love My Way. She is also a producer and writer on Love My Way.-Career:...
. The film premiered at the
Toronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival begins the Thursday night after Labour Day and lasts for ten days. Between 300-400 films are screened at approximately 23 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
on September 4, 2008.
The film was released in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
and NY on June 19 2009 and then in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
on September 17 2009.
$9.99 has three main plotlines whose characters intersect.
$9.99 is a 2008 Australian/Israeli stop-motion-animation feature-length film, based on the short stories of
Etgar KeretEtgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels and scriptwriting for film and television.-Biography:...
and directed by
Tatia RosenthalTatia Rosenthal is an animator and film director born in Tel Aviv, Israel.She served two years in the Israeli Defense Force, tried her hand at medical school and studied photography in Paris, before moving to New York City to attend the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.She...
. The screenplay was written by Keret and Rosenthal and is the third collaboration between the two. The voice cast features
Geoffrey RushGeoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor. He moved to Melbourne in the early 1990s via Brisbane and Sydney and currently lives in the suburb of Camberwell, Victoria...
,
Samuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson is an Australian actor, radio presenter and voiceover artist.He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne and is best known for his role as Evan Wylde in the television series The Secret Life of Us.-Starting out:At the age of 14, Johnson performed in his first school play, cast in a...
,
Anthony LaPagliaAnthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his Golden Globe Award-winning role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, and for his Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Simon Moon on the TV show Frasier.-Early life:LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South...
and
Claudia KarvanClaudia Karvan is an Australian actress popular for her roles in the television series The Secret Life of Us and, more recently, Love My Way. She is also a producer and writer on Love My Way.-Career:...
. The film premiered at the
Toronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival begins the Thursday night after Labour Day and lasts for ten days. Between 300-400 films are screened at approximately 23 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
on September 4, 2008.
The film was released in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
and NY on June 19 2009 and then in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
on September 17 2009.
Synopsis
$9.99 has three main plotlines whose characters intersect. Young Dave Peck is a philosopher who prefers the search for the
meaning of lifeThe meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of human existence or biological life in general...
to the search for gainful employment, much to his father Jim's frustration. In a magazine Dave finds an advertisement for a book that will tell him the meaning of life "for the low price of $9.99." He is fascinated, but none of his neighbours show much interest. They have their own problems.
Cast
- The Angel / Homeless Man – Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor. He moved to Melbourne in the early 1990s via Brisbane and Sydney and currently lives in the suburb of Camberwell, Victoria...
- Jim – Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his Golden Globe Award-winning role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, and for his Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Simon Moon on the TV show Frasier.-Early life:LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South...
- Dave – Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson is an Australian actor, radio presenter and voiceover artist.He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne and is best known for his role as Evan Wylde in the television series The Secret Life of Us.-Starting out:At the age of 14, Johnson performed in his first school play, cast in a...
- Michelle – Claudia Karvan
Claudia Karvan is an Australian actress popular for her roles in the television series The Secret Life of Us and, more recently, Love My Way. She is also a producer and writer on Love My Way.-Career:...
- Ron – Joel Edgerton
Joel Edgerton is an Australian film and television actor.Edgerton was born in Sydney, New South Wales. He has appeared in such films as Erskineville Kings, King Arthur, Ned Kelly, and, most notably, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,...
- Albert – Barry Otto
Barry Otto is Australia's foremost living Quentin Crisp impersonator, although whether this career choice was deliberate or accidental remains an issue of much contention. As an actor, Otto has received an AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor in Strictly Ballroom as well as being nominated for...
- Tanita – Leeanna Walsman
Leeanna Walsman is an Australian actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Zam Wesell in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and for playing Carly Bishop in the Australian film Looking For Alibrandi .-Biography:Leeanna Walsman was born in Sydney, Australia on the 15th of October,...
- Lenny – Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn is an Australian actor and musician.-Early life:Mendelsohn was born in Melbourne, Australia. He attended Heidelberg Primary School and Banyule High School. His father, Frederick Mendelsohn, is a prominent medical researcher who heads the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne...
- Zack – Jamie Katsamatsas
- Clement – Brian Meagan
Production
- Production Designer – Melinda Doring
- Original Music – Christopher Bowen
- Camera (color) – Susan Stitt, James Lewis, Richard Bradshaw
- Editor – Not credited
Critical Reception
$9.99 has received mostly positive reviews, scoring 81 percent on the Tomatometer with an average rating of 6.8 out of 10.
Awards and nominations
The film has been nominated for the
Annie AwardThe Annie Awards are presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
s for
Best Animated FeatureThe Annie Award for Best Animated Feature is an Annie Award, awarded annually to the best animated feature film and introduced in 1992. In 1998 the award was renamed Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature, only to be reverted back to its original title again in 2001...
and Directing in an Animated Feature Production.
Winner of the Audience Award for best feature at
FICCOMexico City International Contemporary Film Festival, or FICCO for its initials in Spanish is an annual film festival that began in February 2004....
2009
Winner of EXXONMOBIL best female director Award at
FICCOMexico City International Contemporary Film Festival, or FICCO for its initials in Spanish is an annual film festival that began in February 2004....
2009
Winner of Anima Brussels BeTV best feature Award 2009
Winner of the Grand Prize at Monstra Lisbon Animated film Festival 2009