X
- 2003
- R
- DreamWorks Distribution
- 2 h 6 m
- 2003
- R
- DreamWorks Distribution
- 2 h 6 m
Summary 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)
Directed By: Vadim Perelman
Written By: Andre Dubus III, Shawn Lawrence Otto, Vadim Perelman
- 2003
- R
- DreamWorks Distribution
- 2 h 6 m
- 2003
- R
- DreamWorks Distribution
- 2 h 6 m
House of Sand and Fog
71
8.5
Where to Watch
Summary 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)
Directed By: Vadim Perelman
Written By: Andre Dubus III, Shawn Lawrence Otto, Vadim Perelman
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
71
73% Positive
30 Reviews
30 Reviews
24% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
71
73% Positive
30 Reviews
30 Reviews
24% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
It stands with integrity and breaks our hearts.
Perelman and Otto make auspicious, nearly flawless debuts.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 161 User Ratings
8.5
88% Positive
142 Ratings
142 Ratings
4% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
8% Negative
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 161 User Ratings
8.5
88% Positive
142 Ratings
142 Ratings
4% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
8% Negative
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
The film has a brilliant urgency to it. It is also unrelenting and unmerciful. House of Sand and Fog isn't a blow to the head, it's a blow to the soul.
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An example as clear as crystal that sometimes dreams have a certain cost, and a very high one. An absorbing drama with notable performances, especially Ben Kingsley, and a shocking final act that is hard to forget. Good option for a movie afternoon.
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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.
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.
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.
In the end, it's just a pointless downer.
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!"
This is an interesting film storywise. The cast does a great job, especially Ben Kingsley. Its a fairly gritty film, not so much in terms of strong violence but there is some threat of violence and bloody violence in a few scenes but not throughout. However, it is quite a thought provoking film and it has quite a strong sense of atmosphere and mystery around it, which I thought was good. It'd be fair to say it's not the most jolly of films, so its not one to watch if your in a really bleak mood perhaps but I think one thing that stood out for me was the perhaps mundanity of the situation the two main characters faced, the basic domestic context of the story, with each character having their own back story. Its a shame there wasn't more disclosed about Kathy's background. Still, its a decent film thats well made and is definitely worth watching, especially if your a fan of Ben Kingsley.
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Its not exactly an uplifting film, but with Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly's absolutely masterful performances, James Horner's mesmerizing score, Roger Deakins perfect cinematography, and an overall sense of thematic majesty, "House Of Sand And Fog" makes for an almost unforgivably indelible film.
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Throughout this movie, the talented Vadim Perelman uses beautiful cinematographic moments to enhance the already heavy melodrama that is 'House of Sand and Fog'. There are no better words to describe the genre of this movie than tragedy, and that's why so, so many of the reviews use it. It was exactly that, a tragedy. The talented Ben Kingsley was certainly a good choice to play the lead role here; no one can play foreign characters with as much attention to details, deliver high emotion with as much reserve as Kingsley. My last review (You Kill Me) where he was mentioned happens to have referred to this movie 'House of Sandâ
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With an unbelievable plot, frustratingly stupid characters and a very slow pace, House of Sand and Fog is a disappointment. At least the acting and the cinematography were quite good. If you're expecting a masterpiece you will undoubtedly be disappointed. It's not a bad movie, it's just not as good as what the critics make it out to be.
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This gloomy tale is about ex-addict Kathy (Connelly) being evicted from her house and Colonel Behrani (Kingsley), a refugee forced to leave Iran with his family due to the fall of the Shah. Behrani buys the house in a desperate attempt to redress is financial situation, thus starting an escalating fight with Kathy.
Behrani is a stoic man, burdened with an impractical wife and a couple of children who are eating up all his income. The man works two jobs, while his family seems blissfully unaware of what is going on.
Kathy is introduced while on the phone, lying to her family. The camera shows a dirty house and unopened letters on the floor. Not the sort of introduction to elicit sympathy.
Enraged by being evicted from her house (because she was too lazy to open her mail), Kathy hires a lawyer and proceeds to manipulate Lester, a married cop, into doing some dirty work for her.Like most addicts, Kathy seems incapable to take responsibilities. Throughout the movie she is constantly blaming someone else or on the verge of drowning in self-pity.
The only thing Kathy and Behrani have in common is that they both lie to their families. They both are slightly unsympathetic, but the antipathy award goes to Lester, the policeman who embarks in the extramarital affair with Kathy, dumps wife and kids and starts threating Behrani until the bitter end.
I read the novel and liked the fact that the writer did not take sides. You really get the idea that two wrongs do not make one right. However, the movie failed to produce the same effect. Kathy comes across as the wrong one, the pushy, needy, weak, spoiled woman with a passive-aggressive attitude who can only manipulate or cry her way through life. Therefore, I found the movie disappointing.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
Online Film & Television Association
• 2 Wins & 5 Nominations
