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

Runtime: 2 hrs 6 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 19, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $12,924,917

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

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Release:

Mar 30, 2004

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Reviews for House of Sand and Fog

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
04/09/04
Guardian [UK]
N/R

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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
12/25/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
12/27/03
Boston Phoenix
N/R

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Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
09/26/05
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
N/R

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Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/15/04
Anthony Breznican
Anthony Breznican
San Francisco Examiner
N/R

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Full Review Source: Nitrate Online | comment Comment
12/26/03
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Nitrate Online
N/R

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Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
11/01/07
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
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N/R

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Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
08/01/04
David Denby
David Denby
New Yorker
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
N/R

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Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
08/07/04
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine
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N/R

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Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
01/28/04
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

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

the very human longing for roots [and] how preconceived notions about other cultures are a recipe for disaster . . .deserve better than the cheapening melodrama afforded them

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/18/03
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

By the end, you feel as if you’ve been hit over the head with a bloody dead dove, with someone screaming, “Tragedy! Tragedy! Tragedy!” in your sore ear.

Full Review Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI) | comment Comment
12/31/03
Anita Schmaltz
Anita Schmaltz
Metro Times (Detroit, MI)

Since the film fails to communicate the necessary level of interior insight, it's like spending two hours with people you'd just as soon never have met.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
12/18/03
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net

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

A lack of empathetic characters cripples this poorly paced but well acted drama about an Iranian family who purchase a city-auctioned bungalow in Northern California after its former tenant has been unjustly evicted.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
05/09/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Sir Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly provide memorable performances, but this morose film is far too boring and depressing to recommend.

Full Review Source: EDGE Boston | comment Comment
12/18/03
David Foucher
David Foucher
EDGE Boston

Narrative logic fades during the second half.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
12/18/03
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor
 
 
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Latest News for House of Sand and Fog

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