Review Fix Exclusive 2019 Tribeca Film Festival Coverage: 99 Review: Intense

People will take up boxing lessons to help them to be in the best physical shape possible. It not only helps with self-defense, but with discipline, patience, strength, focus, and coordination. Many athletes use these lessons as a way to prepare themselves for their upcoming seasons, but this is also the necessary training needed for ice-cream delivery man Mister Pinky.
   
In the short intense and gripping documentary “99” director, Ross Killeen follows Mister Pinky along his Dublin Ireland ice-cream route to explore the dark and gritty side of the ice-cream delivering industry. Though ice-cream is for all ages this is an industry which focuses mainly on kids. The fact that this industry is also filled with violence makes the film unique and one of a kind. 

The film immediately invites you in with sounds of Mister Pinky’s boxing gloves crashing hard against a heavy bag. As he pounds away with booming strikes, he explains his intent isn’t to be a violent guy but he must be ready for the unexpected. Seven days a week for eight hours a day he’s serving his loyal customers while looking over his shoulder for competition who want his route. He shares stories of rivals jumping out of their trucks to start fist fights with him, ambush attempts, and bashing in the windows of his truck.
 
Killeen’s film is solid at transitioning from light-hearted interactions to violence. He shows the relationship with Mister Pinky and his customers in each neighborhood on his route and follows those scenes up with his tales of having to defend himself. In a world where kids spend more time playing video games at home than outdoors, Mister Pinky believes his job is more than just delivering ice-cream. He feels it’s a way to get kids out of the digital world and back outside.

Killeen shows the violence hidden in the world of delivering ice-cream, which gives the film drama and intensity to create a great story. A story about a guy who for over 20-years is putting himself at risk of being stabbed or possibly killed over frozen milk and sugar. A taboo story that would never cross your mind when purchasing ice-cream from any vendor. With the mentions of near-death experiences, it brings the mind to wonder how far these delivery guys are willing to go to protect their territory.