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Movies / On DVD / House of Sand and Fog
House of Sand and Fog

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House of Sand and Fog (2003)

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Reviews Counted:166

Fresh:125

Rotten:41

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: Powerful and thought provoking film.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for some violence/disturbing images, language and a scene of sexuality

Runtime: 2 hrs 6 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:27-02-2004

Synopsis: Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly star in the powerful drama HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG as two people fighting over the same house. Connelly is Kathy, a troubled young woman struggling with addiction... Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly star in the powerful drama HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG as two people fighting over the same house. Connelly is Kathy, a troubled young woman struggling with addiction and her husband's departure. Lost in her funk, she fails to check her mail, which includes letters threatening to evict her. After she is thrown out of the house she grew up in--wrongly, it turns out, so she seeks legal representation--Massoud Amir Behrani (Kingsley) buys the property at auction with the goal of selling it at a huge profit so his family can live a better life. Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian army, is determined to make his family's move to the United States a successful one--nothing matters more to him than his wife and son's well-being. But when he sees Kathy sleeping in a car outside his fence, he knows he is in for a fight. Based on the book by Andre Dubus III, Vadim Perelman's directorial debut is a fascinating study of family in the United States. Kathy has no one to turn to--her father is dead, her husband has abandoned her, and she's too frightened to seek help from her mother or brother. She falls for Lester (Ron Eldard), a deputy sheriff who claims to no longer love his wife. And Behrani is so dedicated to his wife (Shohreh Aghidashloo in a riveting performance) and son (Jonahtan Ahdout) that he blinds himself to Kathy's dire situation. HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is a relentless, thought-provoking work that will linger with audiences long after the film ends. [More]

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly, Ron Eldard, Jonathan Ahdout

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly, Ron Eldard, Jonathan Ahdout, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Frances Fisher, Kim Dickens, Navi Rawat

Director: Vadim Perelman

Director: Vadim Perelman
Screenwriter: Vadim Perelman, Shawn Otto
Producer: Michael London, Vadim Perelman
Composer: James Horner
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for House of Sand and Fog

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
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The excellent acting is not quite enough to make us care.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/16/04
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
04/09/04
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Could have been even more compelling with a less heavy-handed approach to the material.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/05/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/01/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

This is the movie The Hours should have been. Proof that you can tell a melancholy story with tragic characters, but provide dramatic bite and compelling entertainment.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
12/24/03
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

Without the right combination of actors, House of Sand and Fog could have easily deteriorated into a feature-length melodramatic soap opera.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
12/30/03
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com

Kingsley's astonishing performance is wasted in this otherwise overlong, overwrought, and overcooked mess-o-drama.

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
12/17/03
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

Kingsley's skill is ours to enjoy throughout this film, which opens our eyes so we can squint through the fog.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
01/09/04
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

It's difficult to imagine that Kingsley could top his blistering performance in Sexy Beast, but here it is.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
12/26/03
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

... a movie about the perils of real estate speculation.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
01/27/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
12/30/03
Marrit Ingman
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle

Vadim Perelman's "House of Sand and Fog" is one of the low points of the current movie season. But then it's meant to be.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
11/18/05
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

[A] rewarding tale of desperation and lost dreams.

Full Review Source: Beach Reporter (Southern California) | comment Comment
12/18/03
Brian J. Arthurs
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

The dramatic scheme is to show how two people ... intersect "tragically," but what we see is a group of characters who act as wrongheadedly and intransigently as imaginable.

Full Review Source: Blogcritics.org | comment Comment
07/19/05
Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Blogcritics.org

For all its histrionics, the movie never earns your sorrow.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
12/26/03
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
12/27/03
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What could have been, in lesser hands, a cheap and heartless real estate smackdown is instead a somber, intriguing and morally juicy drama for most of its running time.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/19/03
Mark Keizer
Mark Keizer
Boxoffice Magazine

All of a sudden, House of Sand and Fog turned into one of the saddest flicks I've seen in a long time with an extremely powerful performance by Ben Kingsley.

Full Review Source: Broomfield Enterprise | comment Comment
01/07/04
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
Broomfield Enterprise
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

Latest News for House of Sand and Fog

September 05, 2007: Atlas Shrugged Gets a New Director
It's been twiddling its thumbs in development limbo for nearly five years, but according to Variety, the film adaptation of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is on again. More...

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Director Todd Louiso ("Love Liza") has been trying to get his "Macbeth" adaptation off the ground for a while, and it looks like things are finally moving... More...

March 17, 2003: Click Here for Preview. Opens in new window
More...

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