House of Sand and Fog

Rating:
Summary: WHEW!!! One of the year's best without a doubt!!!
Review: This is an emotionally wrenching movie...utterly fascinating and devastating. Some critics have blasted the movie for having an over-the-top or far-fetched ending. The ending is quite devastating, but it is totally convincing and earns its "tragedy" the old fashioned way...by making us care VERY much for the characters.

You probably know the basic plot. Jennifer Connolly, a recovering addict who is still in deep depression, has ignored pleas to pay taxes on the home she inherited from her father, and is suddenly evicted with no place to go. The house is bought by Iranian emigree (and former colonel and confidant of the Shah) Ben Kingsley, as a way of bringing his family a little closer to the American dream.

Kingsley has no idea the circumstances under which Connolly loses her house...he's got things pretty rough himself. Some early scenes in the movie beautifully show the dignity with which Kingsley endures two horrible jobs...working on a road crew and in a convenience store. This is a proud man, a formerly important one, who strives mightily to keep up appearances...not just for his own pride, but so that his daughter can marry well and so his son can go to university. He is a prickly man, no doubt, but noble.

Connolly realises that the house was really the last lifeline holding her to some semblance of sanity. She readily admits that she didn't even take good care of it, but upon losing it, she becomes obsessed with getting it back.

She is joined in this by the cop who initially helped evict her, played by Ron Ellard. He has his own problems, including what he considers to be a shaky marriage. His attraction to Connolly turns into an obsessive need to prove his worth to her by getting her the house back. No matter what!

I will say right here and now that this is the best acted film of the year. 21 GRAMS was no slouch in the acting department and MYSTIC RIVER was darn good too. But these performances totally drew me in. I found myself leaning forward in my seat in anxiety and empathy. My wife gasped several times during the viewing, as the inevitable tragedy began to unfurl. We both wanted things to change. We were INVOLVED.

Connolly is terrific as always. She's a beautiful, quiet actress, who has a few moments in this movie that are so raw and stunning...her reserve finally comes down a bit. The actress who plays Kingsley's wife (sorry, I don't have her name handy...my grievous error) is FABULOUS. She MUST get nomitated for an Oscar...and she MUST get more work her in the states. I was absolutely floored. And the young man playing their naive, noble son is wonderful as well. Torn between loyalties and eager to prove himself...he is a true heartbreaker.

Ron Ellard is fantastically unlikeable, and that's perfect for the movie. He holds his own quite well.

Ben Kingsley, in my opinion, deserves the best actor Oscar. His colonel has so many layers, but Kingsley lets us see them all, playing just below the surface. His character is the opposite of his explosive work in SEXY BEAST. There everything was on the surface...here it's hidden beneath his impossibly straight back and intense eyes. I've always liked him a lot as an actor, but this film, I believe, puts him on yet a higher plane. He is one of the greats!

GO SEE THIS FILM!!

Rating:
Summary: RAINBOW HUED ........
Review: A BLISTERING black tragi-comedy along the lines of an ancient Greek tragedy showcasing the indelible talents of BEN KINGSLEY, JENNIFER CONNELLY and the stunning SHOHREH AGHDASHLOO [shades of vintage Anna Magnani here].

It's all about the lost American Dreams of so many foreigners who look at what we so easily take for granted as Paradise ~ no matter how small the 'find' is.

In this case a repossessed house - shamefully neglected by the owner [a recovering addict] who inherited the paltry property from her father.

It is also about the way we sometimes treat foreigners - forgetting that foreigners were and still are the backbone of our culture.

A timely piece - to say more about it would be to betray the work - expertly adapted, directed and presented by Vadim Perelman.

This experience stays with the viewer for a long time ~ it deserved to be seen by many - and to receive the due awards.

[Also 'Bravo' to Dreamworks for continuously bringing us new and exciting talent!]

Rating:
Summary: How Many Commandments Did You Break??
Review: I have to be painfully honest before I begin. I'm a down home protestant at heart. I spent my entire life going to Sunday school and Church. So when I sat down to write my review for THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG those pesky Ten Commandments kept jumping back into my head. Because I believe just about every commandment is represented and therefore broken it was impossible for me to not see it.
Philosophically I believe humans to be fallen, and therefore evil to the core. This is not a judgement but a spiritual absolute. I have lied, stolen, coveted, and so therefore I am separated from my Creator. It is only by grace that I am not lost. I also believe the Ten Commandments to be the most practical system of laws to prove this.

The characters in THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, is a great representation of this idea. In the film we are presented with two very flawed people. Two people who are fighting over a house that were taken by a bureaucratic mistake.

Jennifer Connelly (The Hulk) stars as Kathy, a young woman whose life goes from bad to worse. Her husband has walked out on her, she is recovering from a substance abuse problem, and her family has very little faith in her. When her house was stolen right out from underneath her, she is forced to live in crusty motels and her car until the legal system figures it all out.

You see, the government evicted her by accident and sold her house to an Iranian immigrant named Behranini (Ben Kingsly, Ghandi). Behranini has worked his entire life to make a place for his family. He once was a decorated military figure whom was forced out of his country with the Shah. He now lays gravel on the San Francisco Freeway, and works nights at a convenience store. Fiercely proud, he lives above his means so his daughter will marry well. When this foreclosed house comes on the market he sees a cash cow that can pull his family out of financial ruin.

These two people are thrown into a battle for a house. Both holding on for dear life and willing to do just about anything to get what each believes they deserve. No one is guilty and yet no one is innocent.

To make matters worse, there is this cop (Ron Elderd, Ghost Ship) with questionable morals whom is helping Kathy. At first it all seems innocent. He pulls some strings for her at the beginning. All seems well until they fall for each other and he leaves his family.

First time Director Vadim Perelman has crafted a film that is rough around the edges and yet filled with engaging performances. He has made a film where no one is the villain, and yet everyone is. He shows just how important it is to "Love our neighbors," what it means to be truly compassionate, and how easy it is for a regular guy to become a cold-blooded monster.

At every turn THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG shows its audience the mirror into our own souls. While I do doubt some of the motivations (Mostly those by Elderd's characters), Perelman has gotten performances out of the actors that feel authentic.

Jennifer Connelly should be up for an Oscar again. Her performance, while a little too somber, hits the right notes at the right time. The screenplay comes on a little thick, especially the scene involving the cigarette machine. But as we watch her character's slow and deliberate slide into poverty, we feel empathy and anger. She is not a hero, she is not good, but in the end she is human, and so we as the audience long to hug her.

Kingsly's character is also very good. He is a man fighting with the honor of his past and also for the American Dream. He is also a man who has lost his faith in his god, and wants so desperately to have everything good. His performance only suffers when the plot drags him and his son on a journey that steals the last moments of the film away from the realm of reality.

It is Elderd's character that steals believability from the film. The scenes where he is confronted by his jilted wife and his crying children feel desperate, and drag us away from the main story. His character also does too many things that feel forced. The last fifteen or twenty minutes of the film were adequate but still kind of clunky because of decisions he makes. They did not work for me as much as they should have.

The end also steals the action away from Kathy and places it all in Behranini's court. Thus stealing any true revelation from Kathy. It also features Jennifer Connelly standing on a white dock looking out at the ocean. I can think of two movies that use a shot similar to this, can you?

THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is so close to being perfect. I hate to harp on the entire end, because some of it works pretty well. I just hate serious character dramas that forget their characters and become slaves to their plot. But trust me, if you are looking for a film that is both challenging and really fascinating, give it a try.

****1/2 out of 5

Rating:
Summary: AMERICAN DREAMERS ............
Review: SHOHREH AGHDASHLOO must be nominated for this eye-opening and subtle performance of grand elegance, breeding, education and suffering [and warmth] as the exile, 'used to finer things', delegated to a life of the eternal struggling spouse ...

As should BEN KINGSLEY as the misplaced high-ranking foreigner - now ditch digging and convenience-store clerking to make ends meet .....the final scenes on the deck with his wife, and in the bedroom ~ Voters take note!

This one is quite a saga , close to a 'pot'boiler' if you can get over the shots of sunrise, sunset, fog and gulls, it moves towards its inevitable conclusion of disaster .... quite a movie and Kudos to first time director Vadin Perelman. Lots of suffering to get things right here ...

The rest? Jennifer Connelly is great [but very similar to her role in "Requiem for a dream - not that this is a bad thing] - would love to see her tackle a comedy - with a make-over. She's possibly just to 'drop-dead gorgeous' for this 'lower-depths' role.

{Would have been interesting to see Jennifer Jason-Leigh in this role}.

Ron Eldard - maybe too yuppie as the lovelorn cop blinded by amour instead of his mind.

Interesting to see how many lives are ruined in this scenario .... the count is quite monumental.

Lensing, music, art direction and costume - flawless - nothing distracts ..... BUT it is the plight of the misplaced foreigner and the assumption of the local lass that's so disturbing.

Worthly of mention - Frances Fisher - brilliant as the lawyer - not forgetting the performance of Jonathan Abdout as the teen son - unforgettable.

[Reminds strongly of the never seen "Strangers in the City"]

Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: This is a wonderful movie. Yes it is quite sad but it has everything a wonderful movie would need. Characters that are not sterotypical or predictable. Moved at a good pace. Wonderful plot and acting by Sir Ben Kingley! I throughly enjoy this film and I will see it again as soon as possible.

Rating:
Summary: Flawless, Affecting Personal Drama.
Review: Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly) is a recovering addict whose home is repossessed for nonpayment of taxes. Massoud Behrani (Ben Kingsley) is a proud Iranian immigrant, once a colonel in the Shah's army, who now struggles to provide a respectable lifestyle for his family. When Behrani purchases Kathy's repossessed home at auction with the intention of reselling it for a profit, he thinks that providence has finally found him. He will be able to own his own home and send his son to college. But the house was improperly seized by the County, and Kathy, who is without any place to live, desperately wants it back. The house is the only thing in her life that Kathy has to cling to. And the house represents a small amount of much-needed prosperity for the Behrani family. This conflict of needs is made worse by Lester (Ron Eldard), a corrupt police officer whom Kathy unwisely relies on in her time of need.

"House of Sand and Fog" is based upon the novel of the same name by Andre DuBus III. The film has been flawlessly directed by Vadim Perelman, who also co-wrote the screenplay. This is Perelman's first feature film. He has previously been a commercial director. I must say that this is the strongest debut by a director that I have ever seen. "House of Sand and Fog" is straight drama. The story is a personal one of realistic behavior under unfortunate circumstances. We watch as tragedy unfolds when two people, who are both right in their claim, claim the same thing, and emotions run high. Ben Kingsley is wonderful as the proud and determined Behrani, who has nevertheless been made so vulnerable by leaving behind his life's accomplishments and moving to a foreign country where he has nothing. Kathy is remarkably unsympathetic for a person who has obviously been wronged. But she eventually becomes more sympathetic as she develops some perspective on her situation. Casting Jennifer Connelly in this role meant that the character would be less trashy than in the book. But I think that was a wise decision, considering that Kathy has trouble getting the audience's sympathy as it is. And Jennifer Connelly does a wonderful job here. It is her best work to date. This should establish her as a true acting talent and put rumors that she is just a pretty face to rest. Ron Eldard is also fantastic in his supporting role as Lester, a thoroughly repulsive man, but not an easy one to make believable. Shohreh Aghdashloo is utterly affecting as Massoud Behrani's wife, Nadi, a caring and vivacious woman whose displacement has left her filled with sadness and fear.

"House of Sand and Fog" has a slow, contemplative, but even pace. And it's a certain type of film. It exhibits emotions, drama and tragedy on a personal scale. Those who prefer more action or a larger canvas will not like it. But Vadim Perelman has created a masterpiece of personal drama. The performances are outstanding. The cinematography is exquisitely evocative. "House of Sand and Fog" is as good as a film of this type gets. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Very good acting.
Review: The characters in the movie were completely fleshed out by the actors.
The book was brought to life by Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly and the other actors as well.
Even though it seems there is not too much of a story to tell, the movie makers have made a very compelling story come to life.
I enjoyed the movie very much.
But if you are looking for humor, go elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: a good enough book transformed into a pretty good movie
Review: in the book, they finally found that the tax problem was caused by a wrong address by the city, but it seemed that nobody could hold the city responsible, only what's done was done. in the movie, it seemed also to be so vague about this wrongdoing of the city. if i were the writer, i'd make these two roles who both were victimized by the city to sue this city and got some justice. the other part that kinda ridiculed the story a bit was the married cop who fell for the female victim. it seemed to me that the cop's role had become too heavy and too large to dilute the other two supposedly main characters. i've always got such feeling that when we citizens did something stupid would always be punished by the authority so unforgivablely and so severely, but once the authority, like the city who committed such an unforgivenable mistake that caused so many tragedies to so many peoples' lives, nobody could do anything about it. by watching this movie, it only reminds me that every time when i visited the city hall of placentia in orange county, all the better parking spaces are reserved for those who work there, city employees, mayor, councilmen/women, police officers, even librarians, while we residents/citizens who give all these jobs to these city government employees, have to park so far away from the entrance. to me, a good cityship should put its citizens/residents first, give all the conveniences first to its people not themselves first. therefore, i don't think and never think that this self-centered city could do any good to the people they are supposed to serve. because they proved that they only know how to serve themselves first and well. this book and movie only remind me of this, and i just don't know why. the other thought after i watched the dvd edition was that in the book and the movie, all the blames should be directed to the pacific county office, because they did a fatally wrong mistake and had caused a lot of pain and tragedies, simply by mixed up a county tax collection. do you know how many lives and houses(homes) the american authorities ruined and destroyed in iraq? have you watched the recent pbs documentary film about then and now in iraq? my god, since the bush administration decided to serve an auction notice to iraq, the whole infrastructure of that country was totally ruined, so many lives were lost, it's a living hell now in iraq. like most of the iraqians told the documentary team,'before you american came, we could still get by, after you american came, we got nothing left, you americans bombed and destroyed everything!!! you american soldiers are so nervous and so trigger happy, almost every family in iraq, there's somebody killed by you american gis...' so, think big, my man, think big, not just a house of sand and fog, try to think about almost all of the houses and structures in iraq were destroyed, tens of thousands of lives were killed by our bigger pacific county. and now, that country is auctioning only for our big american companies, companies only related to those big shots upstairs. think big, my man, think about millions and millions houses of ruins in the iraq desert and sandstorm. amen.

Rating:
Summary: Modern Racism At its Best
Review: The movie "The House of Sand and Fog" presents us with all of the pre-conceived, racist notions that Americans have about middle-eastern men. Ben Kingsley plays a hard working but heartless, wife beating, greedy Iranian immigrant. Kingsley and his family are subtly demonized; example (attention novice filmmakers): in order to demonize a character make that character incoherent. One trick that the director and co-screenwriter of the film Vadim Perelman uses is to minimize or avoid translating the immigrants' language which result in the characters speaking gibberish, thus breaking down the communication between the audience and the foreign characters. The film asks us to feel for Jennifer Connelly's character as she whines, and moans about the house she lost. Instead of taking on the county that made the mistake of auctioning her house, she takes on the Iranian immigrant that bought the house legally. The timing of the novel and the film are not a coincidence. If all of the characters in the story were white Americans, no one would read the novel or watch the movie. It is a great time to hate and make money doing it.

Rating:
Summary: The Fog of Fiction
Review: Ben had a believable Iranian accent, and he sure looks Iranian. That said, I have concern that anyone might absorb his character traits as "typical" of Iranian-Americans, in any way. And, as an Iranian, he is not an Arab, to correct one earlier reviewer. Ethnic Iranians are usually Moslem, but they are not Arab.

Jennifer was way too beautiful and articulate in the part of the messed-up "tax delinquent" - couldn't quite buy into her in that role.

And, isn't she entitled to the remaining proceeds from the auction, after taxes and county expenses? Hmm....accurately reporting the mechanism of this type of legal action sure would have changed things in the movie.

Even with its flaws, the movie gets people thinking - this is the type of movie that has a way of sticking with you through the next day. The audience was stone silent and sat in their seats afterwards taking in the credits - therefore I give it 3 stars, despite my reservations.