House of Sand and Fog
Review by Pam & George Singleton for Reel Movie Critic
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Cast
Ben Kingsley	Colonel Behrani
Jennifer Connelly	Kathy Nicolo
Ron Eldard	Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon
Shohreh Aghdashloo	Naderah Behrani
Jonny Ahdout	Esmail Behrani
Directed by Vadim Perelman. A family thriller. Rated R (for some violence/disturbing images, language and a scene of sexuality) Touchstone Pictures.

The lives of three families are inextricably bound when Colonel Behrani (Ben Kingsley) buys the small house with an ocean view, owned by Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly), when it is sold at auction because she did not pay her business taxes, equaling $500. The thing is she does not own a business. It is a mistake. Kathy is a former substance abuser, somewhat reminiscent of her role in "Requiem for a Dream." She cleans houses for a living and does not open her mail because of the depression caused by her husband leaving her eight months earlier. Not paying attention to her personal matters results in her losing her house. She is rudely awakened twice in one morning, first her mother calls from the East Coast, and later Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon (Ron Eldard) arrives to evict her.

Mother will be coming to visit in two weeks, and she is unconcerned about calling Kathy at six in the morning; it's 9 AM where she is and that's all that matters. Lester feels sorry for her and he suggests that she contact attorney Connie Walsh (Frances Fisher), who might be able to help her recover the house. Life becomes very complicated when the Colonel buys the dwelling at auction for 25% of the market value, and Lester and Kathy wind up in the sack. She's separated but he's married to his high school sweetheart with two young children.

The Behrani family struggles to stay together after they had to flee their luxurious life style in Iran. The Colonel works menial jobs so he can keep up the appearance to his Iranian peers who did not lose everything as he did. This allows his daughter to marry into the proper status, and he pays for his daughter's wedding. The money he expects to make from the sale of the house is the ticket for his son Esmail's (Jonny Ahdout) tuition. A widow's walk is built on the roof, offering a view of the Pacific Ocean, which should result in a quick sale at a large profit.

No love exists in Kathy's family. Her mother is self-centered and Kathy pines for her deceased father, her husband is missing in action and her brother can't pick up on her cry for help when she clearly is in desperate shape, and not really asking for that much. All she wants is love.

Kathy finds a lover in Lester, who at least fills a void temporarily, both emotionally and physically. He has a loving family that he seems hell bent on destroying because of the ego boost he gets from using his police powers to fix things in the wrong way, and the sexual fulfillment from Kathy that the routine of home no longer provides.

The acting throughout this film is exceptional, with Sir Ben Kingsley possibly delivering a performance more powerful than his Academy Award winning role as "Ghandi." We may think we know what we need to achieve the American Dream, yet often to get what we want, we have to give up more than we ever thought possible.

Easily one of the best films of the year, this movie will entertain you and coax you to consider your life now and think about what changes you may wish to make, without scorching the earth in the process.