Rating: 
Summary: HORRIBLE
Review: One of the worst I have ever seen. Seriously people, don't waste your time and [money] . You can't feel any sympathy for Jennifer connelly's character (Kathy), she basically gets kicked out of her house because she didn't pay her taxes (because she is too lazy to open her mail, how pathetic is that?!) The house is auctioned off to foreigners who just want to sell it for a higher price, then she wants it back so a legal battle ensues. The son winds up getting shot and the parents kill themselves; in other words, all the likeable characters die. Kathy is so trashy, for half the movie she doesn't wear shoes and has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. The actor that played the cop she has an affair with is just terrible. The worst acting I have ever seen (except the Colonel). I am sure the book is better. I had no expectations before I saw this film, so I judged it objectively. Some better movies you should check out are: Lost in Translation, Gattaca, The Color Purple, and Antonia's Line.
Rating: 
Summary: awesome flim
Review: it is just simply everything a perfect film should be. great cast, incredible acting, totally intriguing...it is a must see.
Rating:
Summary: powerful
Review: Admitedly the movie takes it's sweet time telling the story. I usually loathe tear jerker movies, but good cinematography and acting broke me down. Bald guy's an amazing actor. This one pulled tears out of yours truley, the beer drinking techno junkie. I only write this review because I've never actually been affected by a movie like this before. Props to whoever scored the music, it reminds me of the work of whoever did a beautiful mind
Rating: 
Summary: Intense Film With Excellent Acting
Review: I will say up front that I did not really enjoy this movie, however I did appreciate it. Ben Kingsley, who was nominated for Best Actor for his role, plays an intense multi-dimensional Iranian Colonel who has come to the US with his wife and son. He buys a house that's being auctioned off due to foreclosure. The previous owner (Jennifer Connelly), has a difficult time accepting her loss and refuses to give up the house. The movie plays out at a steady pace, keeping the viewer in suspense throughout. The direction irritated me a bit as if it were filmed in a way to be deliberately dissonant without much relief. It seems to keep the viewer as uncomfortable as the characters in the film. Still, Kingsley's performance alone makes it worth viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Grasping, but unfortunately.. definitely depressing
Review: I am not one to like depressing or "heart-breaking" movies. That is why my opinion of it is less than that of other people who enjoy watching tragedy. The movie held my interest and I thought I might end up liking it. For a while there, it seemed to get more positive spirited (I like to feel good, what can I say). Now the negativity begins. Everything just got worse and then ended. There is obviously more to it than that and I could go into more detail and actually try to give an intelligent critique, but this isn't worth my time. This is a movie review, not a book review. If you like tragedy, misery, hopelessness... then watch this. You'll enjoy it. It is a "drama" in every sense of the word. If you like heart warming dramas or happy endings, you will not like this.
Rating:
Summary: Dumbest movie I've seen in ages
Review: A stupid, self-absorbed woman loses her house and sets off a series of events that end in tragedy. The premise of the movie is sound, and with a better screen play, it could have been great.
I absolutely hated Jennifer Connelly's "acting" in this movie. I have no desire to see her again. In addition, the story had so many flaws that strained credibility, my husband and I were laughing at it by the end of the movie.
I'm surprised Ben Kingsley would waste his time on such a turkey. Glad I didn't spend more to see it.
Rating:
Summary: A MODERN DAY GREEK TRAGEDY...
Review: This is an excellent film, which is based upon the best selling book of the same name. It is a brilliantly acted story of two people whose destinies become intertwined through a simple twist of fate. It is the story of what happens to them and to those who love them, when their respective worlds collide in a climactic and tragic way. It is the story of Colonel Behrani (Ben Kingsley), a formerly wealthy Iranian, who had thrived under the regime of the Shah, only to lose everything during his country's revolution. Now, he and his family find themselves undergoing the immigrant experience in America, working to maintain appearances among their fellow exiles and finding the going hard. Working long hours at menial jobs, Colonel Behrani longs to be a master of the universe again. It is also the story of Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly), a woman with some serious issues. She is a sad and pathetic bottom feeder, a loser who has squandered her life. Due to a bureaucratic snafu over taxes, Kathy loses that which has kept her somewhat anchored and which she holds near and dear: the house in which she lives, as it is a house that she inherited from her father. When she is summarily evicted from it, she meets Sheriff Lester Burden (Ron Eldard), a married man with children, who is smitten by her. His obsession with her would lead him down a path from which there would be no return. When Colonel Behrani's quest for the American Dream finds him with an opportunity to buy a house at a bargain basement price at a county auction, he plunks down the remainder of his family's life savings. At the time of purchase, he knows nothing of the circumstances of the county's possession of that house, Kathy's house. When the Behranis move in, Colonel Behrani's head is filled with dreams of selling the house at a large profit, becoming a real estate speculator, and leading his family back to its former glory and place in society. He truly believes that America is the land of opportunity. He believes in the American Dream. Kathy, on the other hand, has done nothing with the opportunities afforded her. She has simply squandered them by marrying the wrong man, engaging in substance abuse, living a marginal existence by cleaning houses, and proving herself to be an untrustworthy and amoral person with little regard for others. Her life is the antithesis of the American Dream. Still, she has her father's house, and when she loses it due to a bureaucratic error, the bottom totally falls out of her life. For now, she truly has nothing. Like a dog with a bone, she refuses to let the issue go and will stop at nothing to get her house back from the Behranis, whom she views as greedy usurpers. Her view of the situation is supported by Sheriff Lester Burdon (Ron Eldard), who becomes embroiled in Kathy's struggle and takes it to a level that not even Kathy could have anticipated.
As the actors beguilingly lead the viewer to the film's climactic ending, the viewer will be riveted to the screen by this beautifully acted, well crafted film. Ben Kinsgley is outstanding as the proud Colonel Behrani who longs for that which he once had. Mr. Kingsley perfectly captures the essence of the character. Ben Kingsley is Colonel Behrani, giving a pitch perfect performance that is positively brilliant and won him as Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Jennifer Connelly gives a fine performance as the lackadaisical, very primal Kathy Nicolo, though she seems too pretty and healthy looking, given her character's substance abusing past. Kathy is someone who ruins almost everything that she touches without meaning to do so, as she is a person totally lacking in self-control. Hers is an inherently unlikable character, as she is the catalyst around whom the tragic events unfold. They unfold, however, in a way that she never intended. Jennifer Connelly infuses Kathy with a listlessness that is perfect. Ron Eldard is rather likable as the conflicted Sheriff Burdon, a tightly wound, unhappy man. His passion for Kathy causes him to begin to lose his self-control, and he begins a downward spiral that ends in a personal meltdown. The only problem is that Ron Eldard makes Sheriff Burden a much more likable character in the film than he was in the book, infusing him with a more obvious moral compass. I actually liked Sheriff Burdon in the film, though I liked his character a lot less in the book. Kudos also go to first time actor Jonathan Adbout for his relaxed and natural performance as the Behrani's only son. The role of Nadi Behrani, the Colonel's wife, is stunningly played by beautiful Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, who delivers a one-two punch performance that takes one's breath away. If Ben Kingsley is the heart of this film, Ms. Aghdashloo is its soul. Hers is a poignant and heartbreaking performance full of passion and pathos, as Nadi is a character who is struggling to adjust to her new life in a new country and finding the going hard. Hers is a difficult role, as it requires that she speak in a combination of Farsi and broken English influenced by the grammatical cadence of Nadi's native language. Yet, one never mistakes the meaning of what she is saying. One realizes that Nadi is a person who is simply caught in the cross hairs of her husbands determination to regain his former prestige. Ms. Aghdashloo's performance makes the character of Nadi a stronger presence than she was in the book. This modern day Greek tragedy, with its layers of moral and cultural complexities, is a spellbinding and suspenseful film that is a pretty faithful adaptation of a beautifully written book. Well directed by Vadim Perelman, it is a rich and powerful film of the first order.
Rating: 
Summary: Review For Those Who Read the Novel First
Review: I want to preface this by saying I purposefully read the novel before seeing the film, which is REALLY going to affect my opinion of the movie (obviously). So this is really more of how it compares to the novel than of just the film for film's sake. My overall impression was that the film lacked a lot of depth that the novel had. It had most of the same events, dialoge, and characters that the novel did (actually more), but somehow it still lacked the depth the novel had. I was incredibly frustrated because it just presents the surface of all the characters, and anyone who's read the novel knows all these other emotions and motivations at work that the film completely skips over. It's like the director told the cast not to read the novel and only work from the script, which probably didn't have that much depth. So without that, all the acting seems... badly done. Over-dramatic or under-dramatic. Misinterpreted. Especially Mrs.Behrani (where's her Goosh Goosh?) Anyway, in summary, if you've read the novel you probably won't enjoy the film. I think this is the type of pairing where its better to see the film BEFORE you read the novel, because you'll probably like the movie and then enjoy learning more information about the characters that way.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe the good reviews
Review: This is a pointless movie about a stupid depressed woman who gets evicted from her house and then has the nerve to demand it back from its new owners. The entire movie goes on an on with this nonsense, and in the end I was saying to myself, "Is this it? Two hours for this?" I'm amazed how a seemingly good cast could make such a bad film.
Rating: 
Summary: Great acting, characters. Devolves.
Review: About three-quarters of this movie is darn good. If this were a review of a book, I'd mercilessly skewer it for its ending - and I do not plan on reading the novel for that reason. But until the flick's illogical and unreasonable end game, the movie shone. The direction is deft, the acting is other-worldly, and even the plot works, pitting two kindred, yet opposite people against one another. Certainly each character is remarkably complex and interesting. Yet. The ending. So frustrating. So rare are the books and movies nowadays that resolve realistically, without the spilling of blood. But somehow violence has crept to the center of American story-telling. I understand; violent confrontation raises the stakes of the story. When it appears that losing a conflict results in death...well, it makes the conflict more important. However, putting violence into a conflict is a cheap way of creating tension, especially if it's not necessary. This movie did not need its violent ending to be powerful. In fact, I'd say the opposite. The stakes were high enough - the characters were fighting over a house, a way of life, the interpretation of the American Dream, all qualities that are more important than life or death. But can you blame anyone involved with this movie for its ending? This is an A+ cast and director. This is quality movie-making. And I'm gentler to movies because so few have aspirations towards greatness, so few invest effort in quality.
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