House of Sand and Fog
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Movie Reviews of House of Sand and Fog
Movie Review: A True Gem in Cinema That Should Not Be Looked Over
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked up this movie at my local video store and stared at it for a while. I had my doubts. It didn't have a really dramatic cover and the back didn't read so well. I started to put it back but my conscious kicked in and told me to take it to the counter and buy it anyway. And so I did and let me tell you, I was truly amazed.This has got to be one of the best movie purchases I have ever made and that's still not doing it justice. The House of Sand and Fog is a movie that several people look over, as I almost did. Well let me give you some advice. Don't look over it. Pick it up and prepare to be amazed, moved, and kept in suspense and thought the whole time. It is not a waste of money... it's the furthest thing from it.
The House of Sand and Fog is a masterpiece. The screenshots are quite dramatic, put together very well, and are often poetic. They play a key role in the movie and will truly keep you engaged. But what really pushes the movie is the cast. The casting in this movie is beyond words. You may not recognize every face, but by the end of the movie, those faces will have your respect and hearts. Sir Ben and Jennifer Connelly are great, but they aren't the only ones who lead this movie, and thats what truly makes this a masterpiece and work of art. The whole cast is involved in the meaning and power behind this movie and thats a rarity in hollywood... a movie with a cast that acts as one rather than merely having star appeal.
The House of Sand and Fog is definitely a good watch... a great watch. It is one of those movies that step away from the whole idea of Hollywood and making a movie for mere profits. This movie is a work and it is obvious that it was not made for profits intended. This movie was made to tell a story that will keep viewers intrigued and show that great movies can still be made and made correctly. For those of you wondering if it stays true to the book... it does. It brings the novel to life before your very eyes. I was surprised in that the movie stayed so true to it.
So what are you waiting for? Don't make the mistake of passing this movie by. It would be a mistake and a loss on your part. It's truly worth the money and the DVD has great extras such as the casts' audition takes (which are amazing) and commentary from each of the main characters, which provides for an overall rich, moving and ever so compelling movie. The House of Sand and Fog is truly a gem in cinema... I cannot tell you that enough. So again... what are you waiting for. Watch the movie and be prepared to be moved.
Movie Review: Move of the year
Summary: 5 Stars
It's not a big leap to see "House of Sand and Fog" as the best movie of the year. But the Academy Awards have fallen to such an extent, that it's difficult to take them seriously anymore, unless you want to sift through the nominations for the real gold. Connelly, Kingsley, and Shohred Aghdashloo all give award worthy performances in a story that has, by its end, enough bodies tragically left on the stage to call up comparisons with Shakespeare or Euripedes. There are holes in the story - but there are holes in Lear for that matter. For example, Connelly's (Kathi Niccoli in the film) cop lover (Ron Eldard) is not to be believed in his stupidity. If his role wasn't so pivotal, it could easily be brushed off. Further, surrounded by the three main actors, he ends up looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Then there's the real estate question - it seems a bit of stretch in our super litigious society that a repossession and sale could occur so quickly given a cloud on the title...but I'm nitpicking.
The overwhelming drama of the story far outweighs these problems. Connelly is superb as the vague and lost house cleaner Kathi. Her performance has the kind of nuance and depth that I didn't find in her Oscar winning effort in "A Beautiful Mind." At least Connelly is showing, unlike other recent babe winners (Berry, Roberts, Kidman), she has both the looks and the acting chops. Kingsley. What can you say? The guy is just a great actor who should have a row of Oscars by now. (To get a sense of his range, check out "Sexy Beast.") As the Iranian Colonel Behrani, Kingsley supplies a character that is proud (too proud as it turns out), a lover of tradition, but not so inflexible that he hasn't a heart when the moment calls for it. He is a good but flawed man who loves his family and is trying to do the best for them. And finally, there is Shored Aghdashloo's performance as Nadi, a good woman crushed by events. Nadi's struggles with the language, her kindness to Kathi, the love (and tension) that exists between her and her husband, are all finely balanced and incorporated into a real human being and not another Hollywood cut-out. (Boy did she get ripped off at the Oscars. I guess her name just wasn't zippy enough.) Essentially, the heart of "House" is found in the way these three great actors play off of each other. And it is something special to behold, turning the tragic wheel ever tighter as the movie progresses. The ending wasn't really a surprise - shock to me, but rather inexorable, much like Medea stringing up her kids.
Movie Review: A true American tragedy.
Summary: 5 Stars
It's easy to nitpick Vadim Perelman's "House of Sand and Fog," which has a few too many romantically fogged-in scenes of the Northern California coast set to James Horner's overly refulgent music. Yet what stays with you about the film is its real and powerful sense of tragedy, arising naturally from the all-too-believable mistakes made by its essentially decent yet deeply flawed characters. In the story adapted from the novel by Andre Dubus III, Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly), a deeply depressed, recovering alcoholic, ignores months of letters sent by City Hall and ends up losing her house--which she inherited from her father--because of back taxes she didn't even owe in the first place. Mahmoud Behrani (Ben Kingsley), a former colonel in the Shah's army reduced to working menial jobs in America, buys the house at auction at a fraction of its value; his plan is to fix up the house and sell it for a good price, to finally put his wife and son on a sound financial footing and gain them the respectable place in society that they had in Iran. Thus the antagonists are set: both Kathy and Behrani have an absolute right to the house, and for both of them it means far, far more than just four walls and a roof. One is a rigid control freak, the other a fragile, emotionally volatile mess. The mix becomes far more toxic when Lester Burdon (Ron Eldard), an unhappily married policeman with a crush on Kathy, is added to it: outwardly decent and solid, Lester turns out to have many more problems than it first appears, and in the bargain he has a badge. Step by step, the story leads to inevitable tragedy, with only one player left alone forever to try and decipher what went wrong. Perelman--a first-time feature director with a background in commercials and music videos--likes to wallow in self-consciously lyrical scenes, but for the most part he moves the action along crisply, getting unforgettable performances from his very fine cast. The best performances come from Kingsley, a man clinging desperately to respectability in the midst of a precipitous fall, and from the Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, the most moving of all as Behrani's sad, frightened wife. Connelly, Eldard, Frances Fisher as Kathy's lawyer and young Jonathan Ahdout as Behrani's teenage son also deserve the highest praise. The exquisite photography by Roger Deakins, the Coen Brothers' usual cameraman, is a major plus. The DVD includes many fascinating deleted scenes, including an alternate ending that may or may not be an improvement on what Perelman finally chose. You the jury.Movie Review: Simply superb
Summary: 5 Stars
What would one expect from to Oscar-winning performers in one film? If directed by Vadim Perelman, something amazing no doubt, but one does not expect the magnitude of this film. Despite a wholly depressing story, this film works wonders in our minds and hearts and will further engrave Kingsley and Connelly in the pantheon of the best actors and actresses in Hollywood.(Don't worry, this isn't a spoiler review, what I am relaying is on the cover of the box and occurs in the first few minutes.)
Kingsley portrays an Irani who fled from his home after the Ayatollah came to power. He is constantly striving to reclaim the lost glory of his military career and his beautiful home on the Caspian Sea. It brought a view hindered by trees until one day he has them cut down. Could that possibly clue us in to his mind and his possible future?
Connelly is also now a refugee, but in her own country and town. Her husband gone, she discovers that she owes a paltry sum in business taxes and due to her non-payment, the government takes and sells her house. Destitute and alone, she reverts into some child-like state, needing the affections and support of a cop in a mid-life crisis. What will she need to do in order to get her house back?
I will stop with the plot description there, and add that any semblance of what this movie is about can be disgarded right away. There is no easy way to pin down this film, as it is a beautifully shot cinematic triumph about home, family, and the soul. The message is nothing short of heart-breaking, yet an important lesson to be learned by those who have bought into our culture of buying the bigger toys. SUVs, sneakers with lights, fancy designer clothes, medically altered bodies, what do they all add up to in the end? What drives us in our pursuit to be the neighbor with the biggest SUV on our block? Is the American dream simply that, a pipe dream?
More importantly, what are the consequences of our actions? What will the search for perfection bring? In the end, do our possessions even matter? It is a multi-layered cinematic gem that needs to be seen by those in this generation of showing off and flashiness. This is the perfect film for this tidal wave of false idols and brand names. One cannot miss the poignant message of this movie. Film buffs should already own it, lovers of drama and superior acting should as well, and everyone else should screen it at least once for the important lessons it teaches us.
Movie Review: A Haunting And Riveting Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
With all the emotional trauma, the heartbreak and the seemingly unresolvable angst, it's an enormous tribute to the power of the material and the talent of everyone on both sides of the camera that "House Of Sand And Fog" doesn't come off so depressing as to be almost impossible to get through. It's sad yes, but sadness isn't all there is here; there are stunning moments of brightness, beauty and compassion amidst the darkness and the desperation, combining for a haunting and mesmerising movie.
When a troubled young woman (Kathy, played by Jennifer Connelly) loses her house due to a government screwup concerning 'unpaid' taxes that she never actually owed in the first place, and the house goes up for auction, it allows Behrani (Ben Kingsley), a hard-working immigrant from Iran (where he previosly lived a life of wealth prior to the overthrow of the Shah) to finally buy a house for his family, with the intention of residing there awhile, building it up, selling it for a profit and the tiny auction sum he paid for it and finally digging his family out of the financial hole into which they've been sliding. The tragic thing is, neither Kathy nor Behrani are really at fault for the conundrum this all creates, but a heated tug-of-war for the house begins, with the reasons on both sides running much deeper than mere monetary concerns. There is a ton of backstory to both these characters, and for some of the other characters as well, that is never specifically spelled out but is left for the viewer to decipher, and it adds enormous weight to the show, and even more sympathy for those characters that have been struggling with truly dark demons. In addition to the exceptional jobs done by Connelly and Kingsley, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jonhathan Adout, and Ron Eldard have to be singled out as well for their own truly great performances. Some characters ultimately come off more favorably than others, and one character reveals a real dichotomy in self in being capable of both tremendous goodness and shocking displays of aggressiveness and outright violence (one of which may knock you right out of your seat), a dichotomy that provides real pondering material on what exactly is the extent of this one character's backstory.
I'll say nothing about what goes on in the final quarter or so of the movie. This is one of the most emotionally diverse and one of the best-acted movies I've ever seen. Extremely powerful.