Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
House of Sand and Fog
EMAILPRINTDreamWorks Distribution LLC

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 42 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 67 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Vadim Perelman
Shawn Lawrence Otto
Andre Dubus III (novel)
Directed by: Vadim Perelman
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 19, 2003
DVD: March 30, 2004
Running Time: 126 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for some violence/disturbing images, language and a scene of sexuality
Starring Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher, Kim Dickens, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jonathan Ahdout, and Navi Rawat
A gripping exploration of the American Dream gone awry, House of Sand and Fog is the story of two people driven to desperate measures to claim ownership of a house. (DreamWorks Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Life Before Her Eyes
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Time Richard Schickel
As reversible misunderstandings grow into irreversible tragedy, it slowly dawns on you that this is a superior, heartbreaking film.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Its step-by-step tragedy is so ruthless in its unfolding, you may find yourself wishing it were less well done, that it left you some room to breathe. But House of Sand and Fog has a story to tell and it means to tell it, no matter what the cost.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Features an astonishing pair of lead performances and one of this year's most impressive directing debuts. If this movie isn't quite the contempo-Greek tragedy it wants to be, it's still a powerful, unforgettable meditation on fate, cultural collision and the morality of renovating a house that isn't really yours.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The movie's intense watchability can be traced directly to superb performances by Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The movie's intense watchability can be traced directly to superb performances by Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
A faithful, powerful and superbly acted adaptation of Andre Dubus III's international bestseller.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Responsibility for the ensuing tragedy is so finely calibrated that neither can be comprehensively blamed or exculpated.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Perelman and Otto make auspicious, nearly flawless debuts.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
This is a hard, challenging motion picture. It demands much from the audience, and repays that investment with powerful, engrossing drama that does not offer insulting, facile answers. House of Sand and Fog is gripping and unforgettable, one of the best movies of 2003.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
The clash over the house quickly escalates into a modern-day tragedy. It is a fascinating film, handsomely adapted from the book and well directed.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly create characters that live and seethe with absolute credibility, and Ron Eldards Lester is a subtle portrait of a good man who lets himself go bad, first out of boredom, then out of erotic fixation.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
A grim, challenging movie that will amply reward audiences willing to go along with its ride into the dark depths of its characters' souls.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Just because a scenario turns dark doesn't mean that it's convincing. House of Sand and Fog is artful until it lunges for Art.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
The nearly flawless execution of a deeply flawed premise.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
Novelist Andre Dubus's plotting may be too much for a two-hour movie. But the story's details feel fresh. The vivid clarity of the images, the compressed fury of the tale, are impossible to get out of your head.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Bill Gallo
This is not pleasant stuff, but it's important, and thoroughly heart-wrenching.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
The plot that follows, including the wretched young woman who lost the house, is of interest only insofar as Kingsley supports the structure with a powerful man.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The movie's emotional impact is undeniable. It's a devastating portrait of smart, civilized people driven to behave in uncivilized ways, until it's too late.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Remember the name Shohreh Aghdashloo. The heartbreakingly fine Iranian actress is only a subsidiary character in House of Sand and Fog...But she is the soul of this pungent film.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
What makes the movie potent, though, has nothing to do with metaphor or parable. It's that the story provides Connelly, Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo as Kingsley's wife with all the tools they need to resurrect, flesh out, revamp and criticize outmoded male and female roles.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Before it runs off course into excess, this brilliantly acted film version of the 1999 novel by Andre Dubus III moves with a stabbing urgency.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
There is both a sense of disappointment and relief when House of Sand and Fog crosses over into improbability, when the viewer can sit back, breathe easy again. All this trouble over the failure to open an envelope.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
It's a sad, rich story, full of misunderstandings, bad bargains, odd parallels.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Though the film is somber, it certainly commands one's attention, and for a while one's respect.
Film Threat David Grove
Might've been a great film without Lester, the Deputy, getting in the way of the key relationship between Behrani and Kathy.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden
The carefully laid foundation of suspense and dread, with its symmetries and crisp dialogue, is squandered in a clumsy pileup of credulity-stretching cataclysmic events.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Rick Kisonak
Exceptional performances and unexpected twists of plot keep the story from descending into overwrought melodrama.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
A sterling example of what Hollywood can accomplish when it puts its trust into an offbeat project whose creative team has a different perspective on American life.
Read Full Review >Empire Angie Errigo
There's a desperately inevitable, powerfully tragic last reel, but getting there is absolute torture.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
There's a dignity about it, and it's only later that we come to realize that this dignity is misplaced, born of a fatal reserve and a lack of complete investment.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker David Denby
The ineluctable downward pull of absolutely everything in this movie is more exasperating than moving. [12 January 2004, p. 86]
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
In the end, it's just a pointless downer.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Park
The clunky manipulations of plot, and the sorry fate awaiting everyone in this foggy House is less wrenching than acted.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Everything about the movie seems excessive to the material. What should have been a small, independent feature without marquee casting -- the story's protagonists, after all, are meant to be the kind of people nobody ever notices.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The first hour is excellent, spinning an ethically and emotionally compelling tale. Narrative logic fades during the second half, though, reducing the movie's impact on every level.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Grim, sordid and, as it progresses, increasingly dunderheaded.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Folds like a house of cards, collapsing under its own flimsy foundation.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Perleman has little control over his characters; they simply go to pieces in the most ludicrous ways. He has even less control over Kingsley, who soon slips into full-blown Yul Brynner mode.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
This is a movie that sends you out shuddering, chuckling nervously, wanting to tell the people in line for the next show, "It's the feel-bad movie of the year!"
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 67 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Rita P. gave it a10:
Not often I consider a film a perfect 10 but there is no other score for a film of this quality.
DeWayne P. gave it a10:
Brilliant! Films just don't get better than this.
[Anonymous] gave it an8:
The movie is both tragic, and comedic from a point of view. The Iranian family wound up in defeat, trying to uphold an illusion that was, sadly, never meant to be real. However, it also serves as a parody of the hot housing market, and how things could become completely out of control if we take property values WAY too seriously.
David K gave it an8:
Interesting story. One of the only movies I can remeber at the end feeling genuinely sad (so great acting).
john s gave it a9:
Amazing, captivating, powerful.
felix e gave it a9:
Great movie - just captures you - you realize something terrible is going to happen - a well-done tragedy but a real downer.
Amber S. gave it a 10:
This is one of the first movies in a long time that has hit home for me. I cried and felt so much love and remorse for the characters. I don't really know how to describe it other than the release I truly needed at the point I was at in my life. Thank you for making a wonderful emotion filled voyage for everyone to channel their life into, one way or another.
