Set in a grim, grimy, often bleak world, a hybrid, densely detailed environment of interwoven stories and chance encounters, with occasional flights of fantasy and rare glimmers of hope.
Comment
09/17/09
$9.99 (2009)
80
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:46
Fresh:37
Rotten:9
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: Its storyline isn't as wondrous as its visuals, but $9.99 has a sophistication and handmade charm that sets it apart from the animated pack.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Mar 15, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $0
Synopsis: Based on the Short Stories of Etgar Keret, $9.99 is a stop motion animated feature which offers slightly less than $10 worth about the meaning of life. Have you ever wondered "What is the... [More]
Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia, Samuel Johnson, Claudia Karvan
Director: Tatia Rosenthal
Reviews for $9.99
Top CriticThe whole never quite comes together, in fact -- but even without that unity, the film has an oddball charm and intelligence.
09/16/09
Top CriticThink Robert Altman's Short Cuts with clay characters as engaging as human actors, and you might get a sense of what you'll experience.
09/16/09
Top CriticNot for all tastes due to its arthouse nature, this animation transcends into beautiful magical realism with a spectacular Australian voice cast.
09/15/09
Top CriticPlayful, light-hearted and fun, with an impressive cast of Aussie stars and some fine stop-motion animation. As it stands, at 74 minutes, it’s not quite as smart (or rewarding) as one would hope.
09/13/09
Top CriticThe Jewish melancholy and downbeat humour that oozes from the original writing is overlaid with an Australian idiom, thanks ironically to the great cast, in a transplant that doesn't really take
09/10/09
Top CriticIt's a challenging film with plenty of merit as a handful of unrelated stories criss-cross and involve us in a mountainous thought provoking journey in which we ponder the meaning of happiness
09/10/09
Top CriticThe creation of this world is amazingly detailed; it’s magic, really. But maybe the film doesn’t quite reach the heights of everyman experience to which it aspires.
09/09/09
Top CriticThe film is more than picturesque whimsy, though: at times it reaches for some really quite weird imagery – and some raw honesty.
09/17/09
Top Critic$9.99 is consistently amusing but rarely laugh-out-loud funny.
08/30/09
I'm kind of getting tired of these "grown up" cartoons like WALTZ WITH BASHIR and PERSEPOLIS. To me, they kind of seem more focused on the gimmicks than the actual story.
08/16/09
It has been a good year for animation that pushes thematic and visual boundaries.
08/07/09
$9.99 may not be entirely successful from a dramatic perspective, and it certainly offers little enlightenment about the meaning of life. But the film is so intriguing in other ways that it's definitely worth a look.
08/06/09
The conclusion is cheerful -- rather than strain for answers, we should just experience the joy of the moment -- but the road to that resolution is jarring.
07/31/09
The story, though, rarely engrosses as it poses the old 'meaning of life' query, then dances around the subject.
07/31/09
$9.99 doesn't make any big statements, but Keret and director Tatia Rosenthal are obviously interested in how each of our lives affects the people around us and in the crazy things people do in an effort to connect with each other.
07/31/09
Using the medium of Wallace and Gromit and Gumby, Israeli filmmaker Tatia Rosenthal turns her clay figures into real people in $9.99, a wise, wistful study of hope and dread.
07/30/09
It isn't always clear if the animation is integral to the movie or merely a way of sprucing up its more familiar tales of melancholy and yearning.
07/24/09
The stop-motion animated world of $9.99 is a marvel to behold.
07/16/09
A bit boring and too long
07/15/09
Latest News for $9.99
June 18, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Year One Fails To Beget Laughs
This week at the movies, we've got Biblical bloopers (Year One, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera) and an engagement of convenience (The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and... More...
December 09, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
Dressing Wonderland
Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.
Wes Anderson on Fox
The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Win Glee DVDs
We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.
Win tickets to Cold Souls
Double passes up for grabs to the new comedy starring Paul Giamatti.
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions
Win Star Wars prizes
Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser
Win the entire 007 collection
Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.
Win Fight Club Special Editions and more
We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection
IGN RSS Feeds