House of Sand and Fog

Dreamworks pictures presents in association with Cobalt media group production

Starring: Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley

Directed by: Vadim Perelman

Plot: An honest young woman who is a house cleaner gets evicted from her fathers home by a mistake made by the government. Before she can get it back and Iranian family moves in preparing to sell the house. Personalities clash and reality hits you in the face in one of the most powerful films I've seen in years.

Acting: All around I think I love everyone in this film. Jennifer Connelly who everyone knows is good after seeing A Beautiful Mind and seeing she will stretch her acting abilities by doing the much under rated Hulk. She is so powerful and so real in this film its hard to describe. She draws you in and when emotional walls come you get hit too. In Connelly's performance at every turn you can see every emotion, motivation, and feeling she goes through, it is simply remarkable. Ben Kingsley gives such a powerhouse performance not seen from him since Ghandi, now I liked Sexy Beast but he was scary in that film. Kingsley's performance will reach down inside you and make you think about what choices you make in your life. The actress playing Kingsley's wife, Shohreh Aghdashloo is astonishing, it is amazing to watch these three actors on screen, you feel so much in only two hours.

Directing/Writing: This year has been pretty good for powerful movies. This film is for sure going up into my top five for this year. Hell I think this is my second favorite movie of 2003. Perelman has such an exquisite way of filming, its very simply and stylish. No quick cuts or over stuffed scenes. Everything moves at a real pace so the audience can take everything in and feel the pain and struggle these characters go through when Shohreh Aghdashloo's character talks about not wanting to be deported mainly because she knows her family will be killed by the government, it is so real it makes you cry. No quick cutting we just watch. All I can say is this film is not big and fantastic, no battle sequences, no good versus evil. It's a real story of loss and pain which moves like real time. It's a cinematic force of a movie which should be remembered for a long time.

Overall: Basically this movie made me cry, and that is rare for me. I think I will try and see this movie again if I have time. Don't let this movie drift on past you, go and make an effort to see it.