House of Sand and Fog | 
 enlarge | Director: Vadim Perelman
Actors: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher, Kim Dickens
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.99
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Rating:  276 reviews
Sales Rank: 15046
Format: Ac-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 126
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: D90977D
ISBN: 0783288093
UPC: 678149097726
EAN: 9780783288093
ASIN: B0001DMVBC
Theatrical Release Date: December 26, 2003
Release Date: March 30, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Jennifer Connelly followed up her Academy Award for A Beautiful Mind with this dark but moving story of small mistakes that escalate, with tragic necessity, to disaster. In House of Sand and Fog, Kathy (Connelly) gets evicted from her house for failing to pay a tax she never should have been charged in the first place. The house is swiftly put up for auction and bought by a former military officer from Iran named Behrani (Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast). When legal efforts fail her, Kathy turns to a sympathetic cop (Ron Eldard, Bastard Out of Carolina), who wants out of a loveless marriage and who's willing to step over legal boundaries if it might give him a fresh start. Topnotch performances by the entire cast make House of Sand and Fog a compelling psychological drama; your sympathies will be pulled in all directions. --Bret Fetzer
Description
Academy Award winners Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) deliver stunning performances as two strangers whose conflicting pursuits of the American Dream lead to a fight for their hopes at any cost. What begins as a struggle over a rundown bungalow spirals into a clash that propels everyone involved toward a shocking resolution. "The surprise ending will leave you breathless!" (Clay Smith, Access Hollywood)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 271 more reviews...
 Excellent Adapted Drama October 9, 2008
A great drama that just missed the Oscar, "House of Sand and Fog" comes from the 1999 novel of the same name by Andre Dubus III, once a finalist for the National Book Award and making Oprah's prestigious book club list. It tells the resonating tale of two people battling over what appears to the reader to be a trifle of a house, but is the definition of the American dream to them and the price they both pay for their selfishness.
Jennifer Connelly is Kathy Nicolo, a hard-luck house cleaner who is a recovering alcoholic/drug user. She wakes up one morning to find the county clerk's office knocking on her door and when she opens it, a man in a suit walks right in, slapping an eviction notice on her door. He notifies her that her house is up for public auction the very next day and she must vacate the premises immediately. Kathy stands there dazed, cloaked only in a t-shirt and robe that reaches down to her knees. A young police officer named Lester Burdon (Eldard) files in after the suit-and-tie bully, his expression and demeanor largely sympathetic. He introduces himself and offers to not only help her pack her things but to find her a place to stay as well. Her acceptance of his offer is the beginnings of an illicit affair despite the fact that Lester is married with two young children.
As Kathy confers with her lawyer Connie Walsh (Fisher) and fights to get her house back over a discrepancy regarding a business tax, an Iranian named Massoud Behrani (Kingsley) spots the add for the auction in the newspaper and decides to buy the house at its severely reduced price, renovate it and then resell it at its true value in order to turn a profit for a better house. The marrying off of his daughter Soraya (Rawat) has reduced his financial burden but has also in turn drained his pockets and his wife Nadi (Aghdashloo) and son Esmail (Ahdout) are sustained by his two demeaning jobs. Ashamed to admit his real sources of income, Behrani changes into a suit and tie before walking into the apartment in the evenings, working countless hours as both as a trash collector (a grueling job for a man his age) and a convenience store clerk.
The house seems to be Behrani's salvation and they move in quickly, Nadi at first resistant to the move, claiming she doesn't want to live like a gypsy. The real gypsy lifestyle, however, is owned by Kathy, who goes from a cheap motel to sleeping in her car after her credit card is denied twice. Unable to part with her home, she consistently shows up there and beseeches Behrani to find another house because hers was sold by mistake despite the legitimacy of the sale. When she refuses his offer to buy it back from him for its real value, he brusquely escorts her off the property, bruising her inner arm in the process. Lester keeps checking up on her and motivated by his feelings for her, offers to help Kathy in her crusade to get her house back. His aid ends up being the unconscionable harrassment and intimidation of the Behrani family, particularly after seeing Kathy's bruises.
The battle between the two parties continues to escalate and culminates with both Kathy and Lester doing the unthinkable, both of their actions leading to a highly tragic ending that no one could predict.
All the actors here give brilliant performances, Connelly and Kingsley in particular. Kingsley gives another upstanding portrayal (when has he not, really?) as Behrani, the patriarch of his formerly affluent family now scraping to sustain a small semblance of the opulent lifestyle in America that they once knew in Iran. He is cool-headed, compassionate and hard-working, never overlooking an opportunity to make things better for his family - they are his duty, his life, his one and only love. Connelly is superb as Kathy, a woman heavily dwelling upon past mistakes as she fights to gain back the one true symbol of her waning prosperity. The bungalow becomes the stubborn passion of both and in their battle to keep it, they lose sight of what is really important. It is only when they chance to see each other's pain that they develop a mutual empathy, but by then it is too late - their fates are irrevocably sealed.
The score by James Horner (Titanic, Braveheart) is subtle and morose, unobtrusive and evoking just the right amount of melancholy. Fledgling Ukrainian director Vadim Perelman handles Dubus's novel with grace and poetry and neophyte screenwriter Shawn Lawrence Otto follows the story closely, making it one of the better book-to-film adaptations out there.
Bottom line: A heartachingly beautiful drama, "House of Sand and Fog" was nominated for three Oscars in 2004 (Best Actor for Kingsley, Best Supporting Actress for Aghdashloo, Best Original Score for Horner) but failed to pick up any trophies and it's baffling, as is no nomination whatsoever for the moving performance by Jennifer Connelly. But sometimes the best movies out there are the ones who take second place when they should've been in first. This film is gold, whether the Academy says so or not.
1 word, P.O.W.E.R.F.U.L.!!!! September 22, 2008
I have never seen a movie more powerful that this one. The plot it's unusual but that only makes it better. Jenniffer Conelly and Ben Kingsley shine, I was moved by their characters and their strogle... LOVED IT... Can not watch this movie with out shading tears....
Homewrecker September 12, 2008
Jenifer Conelley should have worn a t-shirt reading "drama queen", because everything she touched in this movie turned to poo poo. This is what happens when a recovering addict "forgets" to pay her bills, and three innocent people ending up losing their lives in the process. It's amazing how her irresponible lifestyle affected others around her, she spun a pretty sticky web. Her cop boyfriend was no prize either, giving police officers a bad name. I think he should have had a worse fate than just jail. Jennifer Connely and Ben Kingsley did great jobs making the story believable, they had me sold. The ending did the movie justice, I was hoping she didn't end up with the house considering all the damage she caused. One thing I didn't like is how the movie was spun in her favour, making the Middle Eastern family out to be the villians. All the while I was thinking, oh here we go again, poor little white girl doesn't get her way so the world should stop and give her what she wants. This all boils down to a sense of entitlement. I'm sorry life doesn't work that way, and I'm glad the movie recognized that and had a fit ending to a compelling story.
 Bad September 11, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having watched old-time movie serials and pro wrestling for most of my life, as well as soap operas for the last quarter-century I have become something of an expert in the forms of drama and melodrama. The primary difference between the two is that drama is fairly serious and straightforward, and the narrative unfolds over the real reactions of well-developed characters to given situations, whereas melodrama tends to rely on stereotypes, archetypes, and caricatures, and forces climaxes at certain points in a narrative- which is always propelled by the stupidity of the characters. Think of most soap operas- where dumb people foolishly tell deep secrets to those they barely know, and usually someone else is eavesdropping. In true drama- say, Patton, or Ibsen plays, things evolve more naturally out of the events that are portrayed and the protagonists' reactions to them. Of course, sometimes melodrama can rise above its worst tendencies to become drama. In the best of his plays, The Tempest or Hamlet, Shakespeare creates drama out of pure high melodrama, but in his worst- A Midsummer Night's Dream or Titus Andronicus- it's just fifth rate soap opera.
With those definitions in mind, welcome to the horridly melodramatic world of House Of Sand And Fog. This piece of tripe is one of those films like In The Bedroom (ironically penned by the father of this film's novel's author) that start out very well- it's well acted, beautifully filmed, and puts forth an intriguing premise- but falls to unrealistic pieces in the second half.... Also, once the flush of the toilet of the film's credibility begins and you know that the stupidest possible action will result the ending is predictable, no matter how out of character the actions are with the characters' earlier portrayals. Another point that sticks in my craw is that this is the third film in which Connelly is seen musing off the end of a pier- in almost exactly replicated shots- first in Dark City, then in Requiem For A Dream, now this. Why, exactly? Regardless, like In The Bedroom S&F cheats its audience with its unbelievable and unrealistic end. It's a far worse sort of feeling than viewing a film that was garbage from the first scene, for then you can almost feel a campy glee over the stupidity.
With this bad story I can only scratch my head as to why the filmmakers and company did not change the ending- that's the right and duty of any true filmmaker of merit, to make a story better- no? Obviously, they did not see the gaping flaws because on the DVD's featurette all the actors and filmmakers gush over the horribly written tale. As for the rest, the commentary is likewise banal and asskissy, but the film and sound quality are ok.
Yet, it all comes down to the poor script. This film is even worse than In The Bedroom, though, because as silly and unreal as that ending was at least it was in the realm of possibility due to the darkness of certain characters and events. In S&F we get a virtual bloodbath over a county clerk's screwup. Just silly. If I were to give the first half of the film a solid 75 the second half earns a 5, for a 40 out of a 100 total score. As my dad used to say: Ach du lieber Gott In Himmel! Scratch that- for even God would chuckle at this disaster!
Better The 2nd Time Around June 28, 2008
Both the book and the movie have almost as many detractors as admirers. In my own case, I found that the book packed such an emotional wallop that I was wary of any cinematic effort to tell this seemingly straightforward (but ultimately quite tricky) story. When I finally did see it, it was on a smallish black and white TV at a friend's house. I didn't care much for the film version then. Like so many adaptations, it seemed too rushed, too skimpy on the characters "back stories" and their complex inner lives. The acting was good, but too much of the dialogue seemed expository to me and not as "authentic" as the dialogue in the novel.
Seeing it in color and on a much larger screen, as I did recently, did give me a somewhat different perspective. The sheer beauty of the film was lost on me on the little black and white TV. As someone below noted, it's hard to go wrong with the Pacific Coast as your background. True, but the cinematography is more than just pretty to look at. Here the stunning nature shots serve as a reminder that the human activity--no matter how high the stakes are for those involved--is ultimately petty, perhaps even meaningless, in the grand scheme of things.
I'm not surprised that many viewers (particularly those who have not read the book) find the plot overly schematic on the one hand, and the characters' actions almost inexplicable on the other. The "back stories" really are essential to understanding the characters' motivations. And without resorting to too many flashbacks or hokey "let me tell you my story" dialogue, there's only so much of that you can really insert into a movie.
What flashbacks there are are limited to a few brief shots of Colonel Massoud Behrani (Ben Kingsley) and family's life in the Iran of the time of the Shah. Presumably, the filmmakers felt that an American audience would need a little more information in their case than they might with the American born characters. It doesn't hurt either that writer director Vadim Perelman also threw in a wedding scene (only alluded to in the book) that also gives the audience a flavor of Iranian culture and values.
The general's nemesis in this real estate tug of war is an emotionally fragile, recovering addict named Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connolly) whose personal story is perhaps all too common a one, one we've certainly seen before. The details of her previous life are skimpier, but we kind of know where she's coming from.
Less clear, in the context of the film, are the motivation of the renegade police officer who abandons his wife and children to become Kathy's knight in shining (blue) armor. I imagine for those unfamiliar with the novel, his sudden abandonment of his family and (although this was not his intent originally) his career makes little dramatic sense. It is certainly problematic--and a little too rushed--in the context of the film. But Ron Eldard succeeds in giving us some hint of the turbulence going on inside the man. No mean feat since he has comparatively less to work with than either Kingsley or Connolly.
The actors work hard (and succeed, I think) in making their characters actions plausible within the context of the story. Of course, a common criticism of both the film AND the book is that its characters are "unlikeable" and not especially sympathetic, although some are more inclined to empathize with the Colonel and his family, given their plight as refugees and their characteristic dignity and pride. Others seeing him as part of the Shah's brutally repressive regime might find him more reprehensible than the two principle American born characters, whose "crimes" might be viewed as "small timey" by comparison and their victims mainly themselves.
No matter how you slice it, however, the point of great storytelling is not to just evoke sympathy for characters we naturally like anyway. It's considerably MORE difficult to make the reader or viewer feel compassion for characters we might not be drawn to in real life...ones we might even avoid contact with. The film version is not quite as successful as the book in evoking that reaction--and plainly, neither the book OR the film won everyone over. But for those open to it, the story is a strangely compelling one. It reminds us of just how easily lives can spiral out of control. In that, this particular tragedy--with its elements of cross-cultural misunderstanding and class and gender conflict--says a good deal about us all.
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